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Pretending to know: ethnography, artistry and audience

Qualitative research has moved significantly in the last decade or so in its validation and acceptance of avenues of knowing and explaining which span alternative modes of research dissemination than those more traditionally expected of the academy. The use of performance constructs and conventions in the interpretation of qualitative research has given access and a sense of legitimation for the inclusion of emotive, physical, and, at times, confronting approaches to explaining or interpreting the experiences of ‘the other’. This paper discusses an agenda of obligation and purpose implicit in the performative turn in qualitative research and its clear potential to influence wide audiences. The comparison between performance as interpretation and therapy and the pre-tensions of artistry are further discussed in the context of exploring a new understanding of the audience–performer–researcher dynamic.