ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ethical imagination and belonging in performative language practice. The first part of the chapter contemplates the ethical imagination from a philosophical and educational perspective, drawing on the drama in the education and applied theatre traditions. The ethical imagination construct is then situated within the context of the Sorgente project, looking at the notions of safe space as brave space, and aesthetic distance. The second part of the chapter turns to poetry as a research method, and analyses a poem written by the author as a creative response to one of the research themes in the study. The chapter then focuses on one verse in the poem to explore the ‘not-a-fish’ episode, a critical incident that unfolded during a process drama workshop offered as part of Sorgente. In the final part of the chapter, the ‘not-a-fish’ incident is discussed in relation to the ethical imagination and used as a metaphor to discuss belonging, identity and migration in performative language practice.
