The Return of the Surreal: Towards a Poetic and Playful Sociology

Victoria Foster

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.15.1.07

Authors

Victoria Foster Edge Hill University, UK

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.15.1.07

Keywords:

Arts-Based Methods, Critical Social Science, Feminism, Humor, Poetics, Research Methodology, Surrealism

Abstract

This article argues that the time is ripe to reacquaint sociology and surrealism. Taking inspiration from surrealism’s emphasis on making the ordinary strange through bizarre, lively and sometimes haunting methods might result in a more poetic and playful sociology. The article looks at how this might be applied in practice through drawing on a variety of examples of social research that share some of the tenets of surrealism, not least the latter’s focus on social justice. This enables discussion of a number of methodological concerns stemming from feminist and post-structuralist thought, including the troubling of narrative coherency and the notion of “voice.” Infusing sociology with “a surrealist spirit” requires opening up and moving away from rationality in ways that allow for the exploration of contradictions, irreverence, humor, and paradox.

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Author Biography

Victoria Foster, Edge Hill University, UK

Victoria Foster is a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, UK. She has a particular interest in collaborative, arts-based approaches to research with community groups. She is also the Associate Director of Edge Hill University’s Institute for Public Policy and Professional Practice (I4P) which involves facilitating meaningful knowledge exchange between academics, practitioners, policy makers, and communities.

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