Poetry, poetic inquiry and Rwanda : engaging with the lives of others / Laura Apol.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Apol, Laura, author.

Series:

Studies in Arts-Based Educational Research, 2364-8376 ; 3

Studies in arts-based educational research ; Volume 3, 2364-8376

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature and history--Rwanda.

Literature and history.

Rwandan poetry (English).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (XVIII, 118 p. 1 illus.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2021.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2021]

Summary:

This book describes the practice of poetic inquiry and takes the reader through the process of translating lived experience into poetry that attends to the lives of others. Using her own writing—from early drafts to published poems—Apol demonstrates elements of poetic inquiry that both give it strength and make it complicated: the importance of craft (the aesthetic); the imperative of accuracy and reliability (the investigative); the significance of ethical responsibility that leads to action (witness); and the centrality of relational connectedness and accountability (withness). Apol raises questions about what it means for poems to function as both research and art, and illustrates what happens when there are irresolvable conflicts between the demands of the poem and a commitment to relationship. Throughout, Apol addresses her white privilege, as well as the dominant white/colonial narrative that often seeps into arts-based work unless it is overtly and critically addressed. The book goes beyond arts-based research, speaking as well to other forms of cross-national, cross-cultural research. It is a call for relational scholarship that moves toward action, a heart-rending teaching, a post-traumatic aesthetic map laid down with clear and poignant theory and praxis to extend, serve and guide. "It has been a long time since I have been so powerfully affected by a book. I feel like I have been punched in the gut and am grateful for it. This book is unflinching, unapologetic, and haunting. The material is accessible to everyone; poets and non-poets alike, or anyone desiring to conduct ethical inquiry to transform self and the world." Morna McDermott McNulty, Towson University, Maryland, USA.

Contents:

1 Going to Rwanda

2 Turning Research into Art: The process

3 Attending to Aesthetics: The art of revision

4 Attending to Accuracy: Investigative poetry

5 Self, Audience and Activism: Poetry of witness

6 Relational Responsibility: Poetry of witness

7 Public/Action

8 Poetic Respect; Poetic Letting Go

9 Conclusion: Engaging with the Lives of Others.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9783030565626

3030565629