From the Concept of a Third Culture to the Reality of a Third Space. A Possible Model for a Research Practice That Traverses Disciplines

Abstrakt

In the article, the proposition of a third culture is discussed in connection with research practices that exist on the borderlands between disciplines. In the first part of the article, an outline of the third culture is presented, as well as its significance and relevance for present- day forms of inquiry. In connection with this, an image from Translation Studies is given where networked knowledge is described, which is seen to be a productive way of viewing the possibilities for a third culture. This proposition is then linked to a strategy that arises from performance inquiry – research-based practice (RBP) – which exists within a third space. In the second part of the article, an outline of this third space inquiry is given in terms of the focus of its research and its basic concepts. The model is then applied to the author’s research into performative education – happening as a form of investigation and research in secondary and tertiary education – in order to elucidate its concerns and the mechanisms that underly it. In the conclusion, a third space for inquiry is viewed to be a productive concept, while the concept of a third culture, although outdated, still serves as a provocation to thought about possible strategies for research practices that do not fit comfortably into one particular branch of human inquiry or the disciplines that exist within them.