(Re)Considering Silence in Qualitative Research: A Daoist Understanding Through Artmaking

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Mindful Presences and Absences in Qualitative Methods and Methodologies (Table 25)

Abstract

Qualitative researchers who are interested in silences draw on different approaches and theories to think with/in and make visible, interrogate, or deconstruct silences in their inquiry. In this paper, we draw on Daoist philosophy to explore silence as an epistemological and ontological entry point in qualitative methodology. Daoists believe that how silence is practiced reflects the knowledge of the world and the surroundings. Grounded in Daoist philosophy, we draw on examples from our work using artful strategies in inquiry to reapproach silence and silent moments. Artmaking offers another way to express knowing and being in relation to others, beyond language, and with connections to more-than-human wisdom. Through artmaking strategies, we offer illustration and meditation toward a Daoist approach to qualitative inquiry.

Authors

• Yixuan Wang, Gwinnett County Public Schools

• Maureen Alice Flint, University of Georgia