Polio monologues: translating ethnographic text into verbatim theatre

TY - JOUR

T1 - Polio monologues

T2 - translating ethnographic text into verbatim theatre

AU - Shah, Sonali

AU - Greer, Stephen

N1 - Shah, S., & Greer, S. (2018). Polio monologues: translating ethnographic text into verbatim theatre. Qualitative Research, 18(1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794117696141

PY - 2018/2/1

Y1 - 2018/2/1

N2 - Mass vaccination programmes mean that poliomyelitis is almost a forgotten memory in the Global North. But in reality its effects continue as many people who contracted paralytic polio in childhood may develop functional deterioration (Post-Polio Syndrome or PPS) in later adulthood; mass migration and escape from violence means that it is also re-emerging in contemporary societies. Thus it is crucial for different audiences to have opportunities to engage with, and understand the life histories of polio survivors and their personal experiences of disease and disability across biographical and historical time. This article discusses the process of using recorded delivery verbatim techniques, with disabled and non-disabled actors, to translate ethnographic research about social history of polio into a creative accessible medium for new generation audiences to learn about the hidden, often contested, histories of disability and disease that may collide with professional, medical and public discourse. Our contention is that ethnodrama can give a voice to the voiceless, and enable them to contribute to the production of new knowledge, health interventions and policy instruments that affect their lives.

AB - Mass vaccination programmes mean that poliomyelitis is almost a forgotten memory in the Global North. But in reality its effects continue as many people who contracted paralytic polio in childhood may develop functional deterioration (Post-Polio Syndrome or PPS) in later adulthood; mass migration and escape from violence means that it is also re-emerging in contemporary societies. Thus it is crucial for different audiences to have opportunities to engage with, and understand the life histories of polio survivors and their personal experiences of disease and disability across biographical and historical time. This article discusses the process of using recorded delivery verbatim techniques, with disabled and non-disabled actors, to translate ethnographic research about social history of polio into a creative accessible medium for new generation audiences to learn about the hidden, often contested, histories of disability and disease that may collide with professional, medical and public discourse. Our contention is that ethnodrama can give a voice to the voiceless, and enable them to contribute to the production of new knowledge, health interventions and policy instruments that affect their lives.

KW - disability

KW - life history

KW - polio

KW - recorded delivery

KW - theatre

UR - http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/135175/

U2 - 10.1177/1468794117696141

DO - 10.1177/1468794117696141

M3 - Article

VL - 18

SP - 53

EP - 69

JO - Qualitative Research

JF - Qualitative Research

SN - 1468-7941

IS - 1

ER -