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"[Wilshire] establishes a phenomenology of theatre, a theory of enactment, and a theory of appearance, none of which American theatre . . . has ever had." -Performing Arts Journal
" . . . Wilshire makes unique contributions to understanding major aspects of the human condition in its necessary search for selfhood." -Process Studies
"It is one of the American classics." -Human Studies
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part One: Theatre and the Reality of Appearance
I. What Is Theatre?
II. What Is Phenomenology?
III. Theory of Enactment
IV. Theory of Appearance
V. Variations On The Theatrical Theme of Standing In and Authorization
1. The "World" of Oedipus Rex and the World of Its Theatre
2. The "World" of Hamlet and the World of Its Theatre
3. The "World" of Waiting for Godot and the World of Its Theatre
4. Summary of the Variations and the Nature of a Text
VI. Theatre as Metraphor and Play As Disclosure
VII. Second Set of Variations on the Theatrical Theme of Standing In and Authorization
1. Eugene Ionesco and the Potentiality of Being-with-Others in "Roles"-Fallenness
2. Robert Wilson and the Potentiality of Projection of Possibility-Understanding
3. Jerzy Grotowski and the Potentiality of Attunement to the World-Mood
VIII. Theatre and the Question of the Truth of Art
Part Two: Reality and the Self
IX. Space, Time, and Identity of Self
X. Self as Body-Self
XI. Body-Self and Others: Cognition, Expression, Mimetic Response, and Transformation
XII. Body-Self, Other Body-Selves, and Self-Deception
XIV. Identity and Theatre-Like Disengagement From Engulfment
XV. Existence and Art: Self as Memorializaing Structure of Possibilities
XVI. Summary and Prospects: Identity of Self
Part Three: The Limits of Appearance and the Limits of Theatrical Metaphor
XVII. Theatre as Metaphor
XVIII. The Truth of Art and the Limits of Theatre as Metaphor
XIX. The Limits of Theatrical Metaphors
1. The "Art of Life"
2. Erving Goffman's "Role Theory"
XX. The Limits of Appearance
Index
About the author
Bruce Wilshire
