Performative Listening: Hearing Others in Qualitative Research

173 Pages·2015·0.531 MB·English

by  Chris McRae

Performative Listening: Hearing Others in Qualitative Research offers an alter-
native theory of listening—as a performative act, or as a relational stance and
performance in which listeners ethically engage in an act of learning from
others across difference. This theory emerges from an interdisciplinary approach
to performance studies, communication, musicology, and critical pedagogy in
P
order to present a nuanced theory of listening as performance that is always
E
R
linked to questions of context, individual experiences, and cultural expectations.
F
Working from examples of the music and autobiography of Miles Davis, this O
R
book offers a clear and practical guide for applying performative listening in the M
contexts of qualitative, narrative, and arts-based approaches to research and A
T
inquiry. By emphasizing the embodied, relational, and creative functions of the I
V
highly contextual and cultural performance of listening, Performative Listening E

presents a theory and method that can be used to rethink the ways scholars and L
I
S
students engage with others in a wide variety of qualitative research and educa-
T
tional contexts. E
N
I
N
“Performative Listening is an invitation, song, and lesson on the power, responsi- G
bilities, and gifts of listening. McRae’s beautiful prose hears and embodies listen-
ing as a critical, performative, and ethical act of knowing and being in the world.
Just listen…”
M
Stacy Holman Jones, Professor, Department of Communication Studies,
C
California State University, Northridge
R
A
E
Chris McRae (Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) is Assistant Profes-
sor in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida. He
has published articles on music performance and listening in journals such as
Text and Performance Quarterly and Cultural Studies↔Critical Methodologies.
P
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Performative Listening: Hearing Others in Qualitative Research offers an alter-
native theory of listening—as a performative act, or as a relational stance and
performance in which listeners ethically engage in an act of learning from
others across difference. This theory emerges from an interdisciplinary approach
to performance studies, communication, musicology, and critical pedagogy in
P
order to present a nuanced theory of listening as performance that is always
E
R
linked to questions of context, individual experiences, and cultural expectations.
F
Working from examples of the music and autobiography of Miles Davis, this O
R
book offers a clear and practical guide for applying performative listening in the M
contexts of qualitative, narrative, and arts-based approaches to research and A
T
inquiry. By emphasizing the embodied, relational, and creative functions of the I
V
highly contextual and cultural performance of listening, Performative Listening E

presents a theory and method that can be used to rethink the ways scholars and L
I
S
students engage with others in a wide variety of qualitative research and educa-
T
tional contexts. E
N
I
N
“Performative Listening is an invitation, song, and lesson on the power, responsi- G
bilities, and gifts of listening. McRae’s beautiful prose hears and embodies listen-
ing as a critical, performative, and ethical act of knowing and being in the world.
Just listen…”
M
Stacy Holman Jones, Professor, Department of Communication Studies,
C
California State University, Northridge
R
A
E
Chris McRae (Ph.D., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) is Assistant Profes-
sor in the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida. He
has published articles on music performance and listening in journals such as
Text and Performance Quarterly and Cultural Studies↔Critical Methodologies.
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
PERFORMATIVE
LISTENING
This book is part of the Peter Lang Media and Communication list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
CHRIS MCRAE

PERFORMATIVE
LISTENING
Hearing Others in
Qualitative Research

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McRae, Chris.
Performative listening: hearing others in qualitative research / Chris McRae.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Listening. I. Title.
BF323.L5M368 302.2’242—dc23 2014009352
ISBN 978-1-4331-2663-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4331-2662-8 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1351-2 (e-book)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
dedication
This work is dedicated to those who help me listen: my teachers, my family,
and my partner, Aubrey.

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Hearing Possibilities in Listening 1
Chapter 1. Listening for Beginnings in Qualitative Research 13
Chapter 2. Performative Listening 31
Chapter 3. A Relational Ethic of Listening 51
Chapter 4. Listening Performatively: Hearing and Pedagogy 71
Chapter 5. Listening Musically: Hearing and Aesthetics 93
Chapter 6. L istening Geographically:
Hearing and Critical Reflexivity 113
Chapter 7. A Call to Listen 135
References 143
Index 153