“Space, Movement, Entanglement, Ambiguity, and Flow”: Artful Knowing Through Collective Poetic Inquiry (Poster 9)

• In Event: Artful Inquiry in Qualitative Research: Philosophies and Enactments

Abstract

Purpose
Our paper traces and analyzes our work at the interface of poetry, social cohesion, and in/justice in higher education. We wanted to learn more about “poetic knowing” (Leggo, 2008, p. 167) as it relates to the artful concepts, vocabularies, processes, and tools we use to question, understand, and impact lived experiences of higher education. We asked, “How is our poetic knowing artful?” “How do we enact it?” “What does it produce?” and “Why does this matter?”

Perspectives
Our theoretical foundation is the reflexive ubuntu principle we have conceived and enacted with research partners (Authors, 2012, 2014a, 2022). Ubuntu, an indigenous Southern African ethical philosophy, situates the self as interconnected with others and places a premium on the interpersonal processes of caring for and growing with others (Mkhize, 2004; Reddy et al., 2014). Our conception of reflexive ubuntu reminds us to ground our self-awareness and self-development in trusting, mutually respectful, polyvocal relationships.

Mode of Inquiry
We created poetry to give a tangible, visceral form to artful knowing. Our guiding questions were explored using a multilayered poetic analysis design characterized by a progression of ever-more-concise poetic forms: pantoums, tankas, and a lantern poem.

Data Sources
Eight collective poetic inquiries published between 2014 and 2024 served as our source material (Authors, 2014b, 2015, 2016, 2017a, 2017b, 2018, 2023, 2024).

Substantiated Conclusions
Our analysis culminated in a lantern poem, illuminating our shared thinking:

Space
Moving
Entangled
Ambiguous
Flow

Space
“Space” symbolizes imaginative room within higher education research, allowing for exploration beyond conventional academic constraints. Academia can become more inclusive of varied voices and ways of knowing by creating spaces that enable exploratory thought.

Moving
“Moving” evokes the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of poetic knowing. The significance of moving lies in collective poetic inquiry’s ability to produce different knowledge and ways of knowing—pushing the boundaries of what is understood and accepted within academic communities.

Entangled
“Entangled” evokes a complex intertwining of experiences, perspectives, and people. Entangled knowledge represents and responds creatively and critically to the multifaceted nature of pressing social cohesion and in/justice contestations and concerns in higher education.

Ambiguous
“Ambiguous” underscores the necessity of welcoming uncertainty and multiple meanings. Embracing ambiguity encourages reflexive thinking and appreciates complexity in making meaning of matters that often do not have clear-cut or one-dimensional answers.

Flow
“Flow” encapsulates the expressive integration and growth of poetic compositions and interpretations. Such flow energizes learning and research that are not limited to accumulating facts but are also about developing multifaceted understandings and responses.

Scholarly Significance
The interconnected concepts of space, movement, entanglement, ambiguity, and flow show why and how collective poetic inquiry contributes to artful knowing for social justice and change in higher education. We offer this poetic conceptualization as a contribution to understanding enactments of artful inquiry, and encourage others to take it in new directions.


[References omitted here due to word count (form lacks a separate field for references). See submission document.]

Authors

• Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan, University of Nottingham

• Guruvsagie Pillay, University of KwaZulu-Natal

• Inbanathan Naicker, University of KwaZulu-Natal