“She Came at Me Wreckless!” Wreckless Theatrics as Disruptive Methodology

• In Event: Disrupting Qualitative Inquiry: Possibilities and Tensions of Art-Based Educational Research

Abstract

In this paper, the author outlines Wreckless theatrics, a new methodology that attends to the nuances and complexities of Black girlhood expressive cultures. Wreckless theatrics priviledges cultural knowledge that is often colonized by traditional research paradigms. As an example of the tenets and characteristics of wreckless theatrics, the author analyses a theatrical performance she organized, co-wrote, and performed entitled, “Hoochies Need Love Too”. Hoochies, shows how wreckless theatrics disrupts norms about disciplinarity, community, knowledge production, and engages deviance, hip hop feminism, and drama toward a political end. Inherently interdisciplinary, this paper details the joys, obstacles, and affirmations when encouraging performance as a site of educational inquiry.

Author

• Ruth Nicole Brown, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign