| Narrative, as a medium for communication in bioethics, has potential to liberate patient care and education as it acts as a bridge between the aesthetic and the ethical, giving expression to accounts of authentic living. Recognizing that narrative practice in bioethics unites healthcare, personal experience, and story, this thesis suggests that narrative's liberating potential for transformative meaning-making and elicited change are best met through embodied narrative. Embodied narrative is a wordless concept that consists of the retrieval of life experiences, too deep for words, yet deserving ethical consideration; embodied narrative is the fleshing out of life experience and a physical, visual, depiction of ethical complexities. Embodied narrative can be utilized at the bedside, in the classroom, and in communal education. This thesis documents a yearlong project, Moving Beyond Words: An Embodied Narrative for the End of Life and defines the innovative theory of embodied narrative. Moving Beyond Words consisted of three live dance performances visually depicting a journey at the end of life. Each performance was followed by a Curtain Call discussion between dancers and audience, prompting conversation about some of life's greatest complexities. Embodied narrative moves beyond words, giving body to authentic lived experience, and challenges bioethics to delve into the whole self, integrating the body, mind, and spirit. |
