Abstract
This research is located within Theatre of Friendship, a grass-roots peacebuilding network established in Sri Lanka in 2012 to bridge divides that remain from the civil war (1983-2009). Engaging seven culturally diverse communities, we use theatre as an active form of listening and sharing personal story and community circumstances. A culture of respect and care has grown over time, making possible more forthright dialogue, crossing into taboo territory such as minority marginalisation, violence against women, entrenched poverty and the central challenges to peace: that different communities do not know each other and politicians exploit these lines of division. This research expands the cross-cultural Third Space the network has built over time, using Intersubjective Fiction. This is a prototype I have developed for bringing multiple, often cross-cultural, voices and visions into richly integrated narrative form. Fictionalising intersubjectivities allows for autobiographical material and open dialogue to be broadcast without exposing individuals involved. It has potential to engage currents of zeitgeist experienced by individuals, speaking to larger social anxieties and generating alternatives to discourses driven by vested interests. Focus groups held with Theatre of Friendship participants involved discussion of challenges to longstanding peace and how those could conceivably be resolved. In consultation with participants, I have developed findings from a thematic analysis of this data into a piece of intersubjective fiction, in this case a trilingual children’s book Short Cut Home. This paper provides an overview of the Intersubjective Fiction prototype in action.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
Peacebuilding, Practice As Research, Intersubjectivity, Third Space
