Abstract
In this conceptual essay, I explore the issues surrounding speaking for, with, on behalf of, and to others in music education through narrative inquiry. As a researcher, I strive to be able to bring forth voices in music education that are not often heard, but I want to avoid essentializing participant experiences, fortifying stereotypes, and claiming representation. In my effort to confront these issues, I have turned to ‘post-’ theories and post-qualitative frames of inquiry (St. Pierre EA, Post-qualitative research: the critique and the coming after. In: Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (eds) Sage handbook of qualitative inquiry, 4th edn. Sage, Los Angeles, pp. 611–635, 2011) in a bricolage approach. I begin with an overview of the concept of representation as expressed by ‘post-’ scholars. I then engage with the ideas of G. Spivak (Can the subaltern speak? In: Nelson C, Grossberg L (eds) Marxism and the interpretation of culture. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, pp 271–316, 1988), who famously tackled the problem of (re)presenting the voices of marginalized people. Next, I turn to Deleuze and Guattari’s (1980/1987) concept of the rhizome and Jackson’s (Int J Qual Stud Educ 16:693–710, 2003) application of this concept within post-qualitative research, rhizovocality. Finally, I engage with Lugones and Spelman’s (Lugones MC, Spelman EV, Have we got a theory for you! Feminist theory, cultural imperialism, and the demand for the ‘woman’s voice’. In: Kolmer WK, Bartkowski F (eds) Feminist theory: a reader. Mayfield, Mountain View, pp 17–27, 2000) frame of friendship as a way to approach inquiry in a spirit of solidarity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
It is no coincidence that almost all of the scholars that I was inspired by and cite in this paper are women working in a feminist project. These scholars, frustrated with the post-positivist frame through which scholars have historically positioned qualitative research, have sought liberation from these constraints through post-qualitative inquiry. As St. Pierre (2011) contended, much of qualitative research has become “so disciplined, so normalized, so centered…that it has become conventional, reductionist, hegemonic, and sometimes oppressive.” After all, she says, “we’ve forgotten we made it up” (p. 613).
References
Alcoff, L. M. (1995). The problem of speaking for others. In J. Roof & R. Wiegman (Eds.), Who can speak? Authority and critical identity (pp. 97–119). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Britzman, D. P. (1994). Is there a problem with knowing thyself? Toward a poststructuralist view of teacher identity. In T. Shanahan (Ed.), Teachers thinking, teachers knowing: Reflections on literacy and language education (pp. 53–75). Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
Britzman, D. P. (1997). The tangles of implication. Qualitative Studies in Education, 10(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183997237386
Britzman, D. P. (2003). Practice makes practice: A critical study of learning to teach (Rev. ed.). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Chomsky, N. (1987). The responsibility of intellectuals. In J. Peck (Ed.), The Chomsky reader. New York: Pantheon Books.
Cixous, H., & Calle-Gruber, M. (1997). Rootprints: Memory and life writing (E. Prenowitz, Trans.). London: Routledge. (Original work published 1994).
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia (B. Massumi, Trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1980).
Derrida, J. (1997). Of grammatology (G. C. Spivak, Trans.). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. (Original work published 1967).
Derrida, J. (2001). What is a ‘relevant’ translation? Critical Inquiry, 27, 174–200. https://doi.org/10.1086/449005.
Derrida, J. (2005). The politics of friendship. (G. Collins, Trans.). New York: Verso. (Original work published 1994).
Foucault, M. (1977). Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews. (D. F. Bouchard & S. Simon, Trans.). Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Jackson, A. Y. (2003). Rhizovocality. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16, 693–710. https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839032000142968.
Jackson, A. Y. (2009). ‘What am I doing when I speak of this present?’: Voice, power, and desire in truth-telling. In A. Y. Jackson & L. A. Mazzei (Eds.), Voice in qualitative inquiry: Challenging conventional, interpretive, and critical conceptions in qualitative research (pp. 165–174). New York: Routledge.
Kruse, A. J. (2016). ‘They wasn’t makin’ my kinda music’: A hip-hop musician’s perspective on school, schooling, and school music. Music Education Research, 18, 240–253. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2015.1060954.
Lather, P. (2009). Against empathy, voice and authenticity. In A. Y. Jackson & L. A. Mazzei (Eds.), Voice in qualitative inquiry: Challenging conventional, interpretive, and critical conceptions in qualitative research (pp. 17–26). New York: Routledge.
lisahunter, Emerald, E., & Martin, G. (2013). Participatory activist research in the globalised world: Social change through the cultural professions. London: Springer.
Lugones, M. C., & Spelman, E. V. (2000). Have we got a theory for you! Feminist theory, cultural imperialism, and the demand for the ‘woman’s voice. In W. K. Kolmer & F. Bartkowski (Eds.), Feminist theory: A reader (pp. 17–27). Mountain View: Mayfield.
Lynch, S. (2005). Philosophy and friendship. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Matsunobu, K., & Bresler, L. (2014). Qualitative research in music education: Concepts, goals, and characteristics. In C. M. Conway (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of qualitative research in American music education (pp. 21–39). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Mazzei, L. A. (2009). An impossibly full voice. In A. Y. Jackson & L. A. Mazzei (Eds.), Voice in qualitative inquiry: Challenging conventional, interpretive, and critical conceptions in qualitative research (pp. 45–62). New York: Routledge.
Mazzei, L. A., & Jackson, A. Y. (2009). The limit of voice. In A. Y. Jackson & L. A. Mazzei (Eds.), Voice in qualitative inquiry: Challenging conventional, interpretive, and critical conceptions in qualitative research (pp. 1–13). New York: Routledge.
Mueller, M. (2013). Contrary to thoughtlessness: Rethinking practical wisdom. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Nichols, J. (2013). Rie’s story, Ryan’s journey: Music in the life of a transgender student. Journal of Research in Music Education, 61, 262–279. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429413498259.
Nichols, J. (2016). Sharing the stage. Journal of Research in Music Education, 63, 439–454. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429415617745.
Nye, A. (1998). Review: It’s not philosophy. Hypatia, 13(2), 107–115. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3810640.
Pitt, A., & Britzman, D. (2003). Speculations on qualities of difficult knowledge in teaching and learning: An experiment in psychoanalytic research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16, 755–776. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390310001632135.
Powell, S. R. (2017). The self-authoring of a music educator: A journey through figured worlds. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (210–211), 25–41. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.210-211.0025
Rajchman, J. (1991). Philosophical events: Essays of the ‘80s. New York: Columbia University Press.
Singer, B. C. J. (2017). Thinking friendship with and against Hannah Arendt. Critical Horizons, 18, 93–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2017.1308113.
Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–316). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Spivak, G. C. (1996). Bonding in difference, interview with Alfred Arteaga (1993–1994). In D. Landry & G. MacLean (Eds.), The Spivak reader (pp. 15–28). New York: Routledge.
St. Pierre, E., A. (2009). Decentering voice in qualitative inquiry. In A. Y. Jackson & L. A. Mazzei (Eds.), Voice in qualitative inquiry: Challenging conventional, interpretive, and critical conceptions in qualitative research (pp. 221–236). New York: Routledge.
St. Pierre, E. A. (2011). Post-qualitative research: The critique and the coming after. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Sage handbook of qualitative inquiry (4th ed., pp. 611–635). Los Angeles: Sage.
St. Pierre, E. A. (2013). The appearance of data. Cultural Studies↔Critical Methodologies, 13, 223–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708613487862.
Visweswaran, K. (1994). Fictions of feminist ethnography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Acknowledgments
I thank Samuel Escalante for an expert reading of an early draft.This chapter is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend and mentor, Susan Conkling, who often reminded me “research is not just a series of experiences.”
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Powell, S.R. (2020). Whose Story? (Re)presentation, Rhizovocality, and Friendship. In: Smith, T.D., Hendricks, K.S. (eds) Narratives and Reflections in Music Education. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 28. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28707-8_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28707-8_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28706-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28707-8
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)