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Co-creation of meaning in autobiographical performance in dramatherapy

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posted on 2023-08-30, 16:29 authored by Jean-François Jacques
The research aims to investigate how the production of meaning in autobiographical performance in dramatherapy can be described as emerging from a relational and embodied encounter between performers and spectators (or witnesses). The study considers how the different levels of interaction within the relational space of autobiographical performance in dramatherapy inform and influence the way in which meaning is created, and the experiences of those involved. The study responds to a need in autobiographical performance research to analyse and understand the processes that enable a connection between the staged experience of the performer and the lived experience of the witness, and how these create new meanings for both. The research therefore aims at exploring the mechanisms underlying and contributing to a process of co-creation of meaning in autobiographical performance in dramatherapy. The research reflects an interdisciplinary approach that brings together theoretical and empirical developments in the fields of dramatherapy, theatre and performance studies, phenomenology and literary studies. The research adopts a multi-method methodological framework that combines performance as research and relational phenomenological research. The findings of the research reveal complex relational dynamics and different levels of intersubjective relationships within the shared space of autobiographical performance, and their impact on the meaning making process. The findings show a reciprocal relationship between the role of the performer and the witness, and the way in which they co-author and complete their respective experiences and their meaning. As part of that dynamic, the research unveils the significance of embodied and pre-reflective processes in the production of meaning. Finally, the research shows how aesthetic processes in autobiographical performances regulate the transformational potential of the encounter between performers and spectators. The research suggests that the production of meaning in autobiographical performance in dramatherapy is located at the intersection between aesthetic, embodied and intersubjective processes that reflect different dimensions of co-creation within the shared space of the performance. It suggests how the shared space of autobiographical performance creates opportunities for individuals to better understand themselves and others in dialogue and in relation with one another.

History

Institution

Anglia Ruskin University

File version

  • Accepted version

Language

  • eng

Thesis name

  • PhD

Thesis type

  • Doctoral

Legacy posted date

2019-08-15

Legacy creation date

2019-08-15

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

Theses from Anglia Ruskin University/Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

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