Transnational Methodological Engagements with Artistic Narratives: Challenging Hierarchies and Building Community

Authors

Lauren Stetz, Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USAFollow

Abstract

Through the analysis Violence Against Women Art Map Project, a publicly accessible online platform that utilizes data visualization to understand the contextual complexities of violence against women (VAW), this article explores how comics and narrative artworks can be utilized to provide voice on sensitive or controversial subject matter, challenge accepted societal hierarchies and norms and build community. Considering social media as a transnational dialogic space, graphic works within online spaces can provide qualitative researchers with the potential to expose the multilayered and entangled experiences of individuals across cultures and to interrupt frequently silenced issues that often go unwitnessed and unspoken. Artistic narrative works on public platforms can provide avenues for advocacy which can be veiled or protected from censorship or governmental scrutiny within the creative context. Careful researchers, however, must be cognizant of risks of misinterpretation of complex issues as well as personal and cultural biases. Participatory action methodologies, which engage artists within the research process can serve to mitigate speculative interpretations of visual storytelling, empower individuals, and provide multivocal narratives across geographies.

Keywords

narrative, artwork, transnational, participatory action research, violence against women

Author Bio(s)

Lauren Stetz is an art educator and scholar, Lauren Stetz has worked with students from Pre-K to the university level in public and private schools in Pennsylvania; Northern Virginia; and Washington, D.C. Her interdisciplinary global research utilizes data visualization to develop culturally responsive pedagogy and harnesses the power of art activism for healing, community building, and societal change. She currently teaches at Penn State College Pennsylvania, USA. lstetz@uarts.edu

Acknowledgements

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Publication Date

5-18-2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2025.8168

Recommended APA Citation

Stetz, L. (2025). Transnational methodological engagements with artistic narratives: Challenging hierarchies and building community. The Qualitative Report, 30(4), 3536-3552. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2025.8168