Professing Performance: Theatre in the Academy from Philology to Performativity (Theatre and Performance Theory)

266 Pages·2004·0.84 MB·English

by  Shannon Jackson

Today’s academic discourse is filled with the word “perform.”
Nestled amongst a variety of prefixes and suffixes (re-, post-,
-ance, -ivity?), the term functions as a vehicle for a host of
contemporary inquiries. For students, artists, and scholars of
performance and theatre, this development is intriguing and
complex.Byexaminingthehistoryoftheatrestudiesandrelated
institutions and by comparing the very different disciplinary
interpretations and developments that led to this engagement,
ProfessingPerformanceofferswaysofplacingperformancetheory
and performance studies in context. Shannon Jackson consid-
erstheconnectionamongstarangeofperformanceformssuch
as oratory, theatre, dance, and performance art and explores
performanceasbothahumanisticandtechnicalfieldofeduca-
tion.Throughout,sheexplorestheinstitutionalhistoryofper-
formanceintheUSacademyinordertorevisecurrentdebates
aroundtheroleoftheartsandhumanitiesinhighereducation.
  is Associate Professor of Rhetoric and
of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at University of
California, Berkeley. Her first book, Lines of Activity: Perfor-
mance, Historiography, Hull-House Domesticity, received hon-
ourable mention for the John Hope Franklin Prize at the
American Studies Association. She has also published in a
numberofjournalsincludingTheDramaReview,TheatreJour-
nal,TextandPerformanceQuarterly,andTheJournalofDramatic
TheoryandCriticism.

Professing Performance
TheatreintheAcademyfromPhilologytoPerformativity
TheatreandPerformanceTheory
SeriesEditor
TracyC.Davis,NorthwesternUniversity
EachvolumeintheTheatreandPerformanceTheoryseriesintroduces
akeyissueabouttheatre’sroleinculture.Speciallywrittenforstudents
and a wide readership, each book uses case studies to guide readers
intotoday’spressingdebatesintheatreandperformancestudies.Topics
include contemporary theatrical practices; historiography; interdisci-
plinaryapproachestomakingtheatre;andthechoicesandconsequences
ofhowtheatreisstudied,amongotherareasofinvestigation.
Booksintheseries
JackyBratton,NewReadingsinTheatreHistory
TracyC.DavisandThomasPostlewait(eds),Theatricality
Shannon Jackson, Professing Performance: theatre in the academy from
philologytoperformativity
Professing Performance
Theatre in the Academy from Philology
to Performativity
Shannon Jackson
         
ThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom
  
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Firstpublished2004
Reprinted2006
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypefacePlantin10/12pt. SystemLATEX2ε []
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Jackson,Shannon,1967–
Professingperformance:theatreintheacademyfromphilologyto
performativity/ShannonJackson.
p. cm.–(Theatreandperformancetheory)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0521651891–ISBN0521656052(pbk)
1.Performingarts–Studyandteaching(Higher) 2.Performingarts.
I.Title. II.Series. (cid:2).071
PN1576.J33 2004 791 (cid:2)1–dc22 2003055729
ISBN0521651891hardback
ISBN0521656052paperback
For Michael

Contents
Acknowledgments pagex
1 Disciplineandperformance:genealogyand
discontinuity 1
2 Institutionsandperformance:professing
performanceintheearlytwentiethcentury 40
3 Cultureandperformance:structuresof
dramaticfeeling 79
4 Practiceandperformance:modernistparadoxes
andliteralistlegacies 109
5 Historyandperformance:blurredgenresand
theparticularizingofthepast 146
6 Identityandperformance:racialperformativity
andanti-racisttheatre 176
Notes 220
Selectbibliography 239
Index 248
ix
Acknowledgments
Theideaforthisprojectbegan,appropriatelyenough,duringmy
transitionfromgraduatestudenttoassistantprofessor.Asitdoes
formostofus,thetransitioninvolvedachangeofinstitutions.It
wasduringthatprocessthatIbecamemoreacutelyawareofthe
institutionalconstructionofknowledgeandwantedsomekindof
how-tomanual.WhatIofferinthisbookturnsouttobelessof
a how-to; after all, the variety of institutions makes the idea
of a manual impossible. This book does, however, offer a way
of thinking about institutional variety. At base, Professing Per-
formance asks colleagues, scholars, and students to allow the
recognition of difference and contingency to structure our pro-
fessionalanddisciplinarylives.Atatimewhendisciplinarywars
havehittheprofessingofperformancewithacertainamountof
virulence – resulting in self-righteous declarations, oppositions,
andexclusionsthatpushtheboundsofbothcollegialityandrea-
sonable argument – it seems important to learn to welcome in-
stitutionalvariation.
A number of individuals served as necessary interlocutors
at Northwestern, Harvard, and the University of California at
Berkeley (my three sites of employment) and at the symposia,
scholarly organizations, and other speaking engagements where
I have shared this material. For critiques, citations, patience,
andperspectiveduringmanymanicconversations,Iparticularly
want to thank Phil Auslander, Sally Banes, Larry Buell, Judith
Butler,CharlotteCanning,AnneCheng,DwightConquergood,
Marianne Constable, Elin Diamond, Jill Dolan, Harry Elam,
Marjorie Garber, Mark Griffith, Bill Handley, Barbara John-
son, Caren Kaplan, Loren Kruger, Jeff Masten, Jose´ Mun˜oz,
Peggy Phelan, Della Pollock, Martin Puchner, Joseph Roach,
MiryamSas,RebeccaSchneider,KajaSilverman,EricSmoodin,
x