Professing Performance: Theatre in the Academy from Philology to Performativity

Theatre and Performance Theory

by Shannon Jackson

Contemporary academic discourse is filled with the word "perform". Nestled among a variety of prefixes and suffixes (re-, post-, -ance, -ivity?), the term functions as a vehicle for a host of inquiries. This development is intriguing and complex for students, artists, and scholars of performance and theater. By examining the history of theater studies and related institutions and comparing the very different disciplinary interpretations and developments that led to this engagement, this study offers ways of placing performance theory and performance studies in context.

Genres: Theatre, History

268 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2004

Reviews

[lbh. · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is a pleasant, even-handed, welcome genealogy of performance studies as well as an entertaining history of this corner of academia and an interesting and helpful insight into practices of pedagogy. it's one of a few books i really wish i'd read before i started my MA.