The Cambridge Companion to Performance Studies

In this book, leading scholars in the field of Performance Studies consider diverse approaches to this vibrant discipline.

Tracy C. Davis (Edited by)

9780521696265, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 November 2008

210 pages, 4 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.34 kg

Since the turn of the century, Performance Studies has emerged as an increasingly vibrant discipline. Its concerns - embodiment, ethical research and social change - are held in common with many other fields, however a unique combination of methods and applications is used in exploration of the discipline. Bridging live art practices - theatre, performance art and dance - with technological media, and social sciences with humanities, it is truly hybrid and experimental in its techniques. This Companion brings together specially commissioned essays from leading scholars who reflect on their own experiences in Performance Studies and the possibilities this offers to representations of identity, self-and-other, and communities. Theories which have been absorbed into the field are applied to compelling topics in current academic, artistic and community settings. The collection is designed to reflect the diversity of outlooks and provide a guide for students as well as scholars seeking a perspective on research trends.

Introduction: The pirouette, detour, revolution, deflection, deviation, tack, and yaw of the performative turn Tracy C. Davis
Part I. Social Polities: History in Individuals: 1. Performance and democracy Nicholas Ridout
2. Performance as research: live events and documents Baz Kershaw
3. Movement's contagion: the kinesthetic impact of performance Susan Leigh Foster
4. Performance matters: Bali and Baliology in the years of living dangerously John Emigh
5. Universal experience: the city as tourist stage Susan Bennett
6. Performance and intangible culture heritage Diana Taylor
Part II. Body Politics: The Individual in History
7. Live and technologically mediated performance Philip Auslander
8. Moving histories: performance and oral history Della Pollock
9. What is the 'social' in social practice?: comparing experiments in performance Shannon Jackson
10. Live art in art history: a paradox? Amelia Jones
11. Queer theory E. Patrick Johnson.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]