Collaging as Embodied Method: The Use of Collage in a Study of American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreters' Experiences

Abstract

This methodological essay describes the generativity of collaborative collaging in a qualitative inquiry project with American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters who serve D/deaf students within a public university. Sign language interpreting is a demanding profession requiring physical endurance, creativity, and quick mental processing to switch between spoken and sign language. Interpreters’ visual communicative culture aligns conceptually with the embodied arts-based, visual, and tactile research technique of collaging. We first introduce collaging scholarship to ground our discussion of using collaging as a method within this case study of ASL interpreters. We then provide an overview of ASL interpreter research and our case study to situate the collaging method used alongside other approaches, asking, “How was collaging a productive method for exploring interpreters’ understanding of their work experiences?” We describe the use of the method and the productivity of interpreters’ collaging for surfacing embodied experiences, fueling collaborative meaning-making, and showing rather than telling aspects of interpreters’ labor in another expressive language. We conclude by identifying the value of collaborative collaging in this case study and for other researchers, issues, and contexts.