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From the age of Aristotle to the age of AIDS, writers, thinkers, performers and activists have wresteled with what "performance" is all about. At the same moment, "performativity"--a new concept in language theory--has become a ubiquitous term in literary studies. This volume grapples with the nature of these two key terms whose traces can be found everywhere: in the theatre, in the streets, in philosophy, in questions of race and gender, and in the sentences we speak.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION, ANDREW PARKER, EVE KOSOFSKY SEDGWICK; Chapter 1 THE UNHAPPY PERFORMATIVE, TIMOTHY GOULD; Chapter 2 CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE, JOSEPH ROACH; Chapter 3 WRITING THE ABSENT POTENTIAL, SANDRA L. RICHARDS; Chapter 4 TRAUMATIC AWAKENINGS, CATHY CARUTH; Chapter 5 KATHARSIS, ANDREW FORD; Chapter 6 THE PLAY OF CONSCIENCE, STEPHEN ORGEL; Chapter 7 THE SHUDDER CATHARSIS IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY PERFORMANCE, ELIN DIAMOND; Chapter 8 PERFORMATIVITY AND SPATIAL DISTINCTION, CINDY PATTON; Chapter 9 BURNING ACTS, JUDITH BUTLER;
About the author
Andrew Parker, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
Summary
The performance of one's gender and sexuality is now widely seen to be key to debates around identity politics. This collection brings together some of the best-known scholars in the field, from Judith Butler to Cindy Patton.
