The aesthetic rationality of the popular expressive arts: Lifeworld communication among breast cancer survivors living with lymphedema
Date
2014-08-01
Authors
Quinlan, Elizabeth
Thomas, Roanne
Fichtner, Pam
McMullen, Linda
Block, Janice
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
ORCID
Type
Article
Degree Level
Abstract
The use of popular expressive arts as antidotes to the pathologies of the parallel processes of lifeworld colonization and cultural impoverishment has been under-theorized. This article enters the void with a project in which breast cancer survivors used collages and installations of everyday objects to solicit their authentic expression of the psycho-social impacts of lymphedema. The article enlists Jurgen Habermas’ communicative action theory to explore the potential of these expressive arts to expand participants’ meaningful engagement with their lifeworlds. The findings point to the unique non-linguistic discursivity of these non-institutional artistic forms as their liberating power to disclose silenced human needs: the images ‘spoke’ for themselves for group members to recognize shared subjectivities. The authenticity claims inherent in the art forms fostered collective reflexivity and spontaneous, affective responses and compelled the group to create new collective understandings of the experience of living with lymphedema. The article contributes theoretical insights regarding the emancipatory potential of aesthetic-expressive rationality, an under-developed area of Habermasian theory of communicative action, and to the burgeoning literature on arts-based methods in social scientific research.
Description
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Keywords
breast cancer, aesthetic-expressive rationality, communicative action, social scientific research
Citation
Quinlan, E., Thomas, R., Ahmed, S. et al. The aesthetic rationality of the popular expressive arts: Lifeworld communication among breast cancer survivors living with lymphedema. Soc Theory Health 12, 291–312 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1057/sth.2014.9
Degree
Department
Program
Advisor
Committee
Part Of
item.page.relation.ispartofseries
DOI
10.1057/sth.2014.9