Knowing/ unknowing: the breath between in poetry

Abstract

Debates about decolonising research have a tendency to be theoretical without much focus on the embodied and methodological engagements that are required to shift the colonial gaze that research continues to have. This article contributes to decolonial debates with a focus on positionality and research methods as they emerge in research relationships. It argues for poetry as a decolonising tool for scholars to do good work, through exploring the author’s experiences as a graduate student navigating the intersection of their age, racial and gendered social location with their early career research engagements. It presents poetry as a form that can facilitate reflexivity for a humanising, decolonial, more ethical and healthier research praxis for all involved.