This dissertation examines the articulations and interruptions of Dumarka Soomaaliyeed Voices Unveiled (DSVU), a narrative participatory photography project that resulted in an exhibit of photographs and stories exploring what it is to be Muslim, Somali women in Columbus, Ohio. The primary source for the concepts of articulation and interruption is the community theory of Jean-Luc Nancy (1991, 1997, 2000).
I employed participatory action research with fourteen young women to develop the narrative participatory photography method asserted in this study. In addition, a conceptual framework bringing together Nancy’s community theory, diasporic cultural identity, and political action as interruption emerged from the intersection of the fields of Somali Studies and Community Arts.
In this research, I identify and analyze two articulations of Somali woman, which include: 1) stories about who they are told they are, how they identify themselves as a group of young women, and how they identify themselves as individuals; and 2) stories about not knowing what it means to be Somali. The stories of s interrupt: 1) stereotypes and assumptions held by others (both Somali and non-Somali) through creating points of empathy, presenting multiple viewpoints, experiencing affronting encounters, and giving attention to relationship; and 2) participants’ perceptions by offering a space to share stories and consciously choose what to follow and what to leave behind.
This research offers a retheorization of relationship and political action in PAR and Community Arts, a new model of narrative participatory photography, and strategies for community arts educators engaged with immigrant and refugee communities.