Fact, faction and fiction: exploring fictional composition as a tool for knowledge production in leisure research

ABSTRACT

In this research note, inspired by the SI in ALR ‘finding truth in fiction’ [Justin Harmon and Rudy Dunlap. 2021. “Leisure Seen Differently: Conclusion to the Special Issue on ‘Finding Truth in Fiction’.” Annals of Leisure Research, Finding Truth in Fiction 24: 646-651], we explore the potential of fiction as a tool for research and pedagogy in leisure studies. Our analytical focus is Terra Ludus [Bruce 2016a. Terra Ludus: A Novel About Media, Gender and Sport. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers], a dystopian novel set in an imagined (near) future world that has women’s sport as the backdrop. Based on our own readings of Terra Ludus, and an interview with the author (July 2020) about her aims in the production of this work, we explore fiction’s potential role in leisure studies research overall and the possibilities of the creative non-fiction genre specifically.

KEYWORDS:

• Narrative
• fiction
• faction
• CAP
• qualitative methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 A three-way conversation conduring via zoom during Covid-lockdowns. In the text, we refer to all interview material as interview (2020).

2 https://brill.com/view/serial/SOCI.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Belinda Wheaton

Belinda Wheaton is Professor in the School of Health, University of Waikato, Aotearoa/New Zealand. She is a cultural sociologist, with research interests across leisure, sport and popular culture, and a focus on identity, inclusion and inequality. Belinda is best known for her research on informal and lifestyle sport cultures including The Cultural Politics of Lifestyle Sports, (2013) and Action Sports and the Olympic Games: Past, Present, Future (Wheaton and Thorpe, 2022).

Louise Mansfield

Louise Mansfield is Professor of Sport, Health and Social Sciences, Vice Dean for Research and Co-Director of the Centre for Health and Wellbeing across the Lifecourse in the College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at Brunel University London, UK. Her research focuses on the relationship between communities, physical activity, inequalities and public health and wellbeing. She has conducted her work with diverse population groups in different contexts and has over 15 years' experience of leading research projects for sport and public health organisations in the UK. Louise is known for developing evidence to inform policy and practice.