Faculty Bookshelf

Performance & Cultural Politics gathers together some of the foremost scholars of performance studies to examine the historical and cultural territories of performance. "Culture" in the twentieth century, says ethnographer James Clifford, "is no longer an object to be described, neither is it a unified corpus of symbols and meanings that can be definitively interpreted. Culture is contested, temporal, emergent." The essays in this volume explore performance, which encompasses theater, performance art, dance, and music, as a vital component of this hybrid, contested culture. The contributors to this landmark volume focus on topics varying from Oscar Wilde to Eric Clapton; the Rose Theatre to the U.S. holocaust museums. They provide new interpretations of performance and its relation to issues of history, memory, mourning, racism, homophobia, and performativity. Performance artist, Robbie McCauley, concludes with a practitioner's perspective on art-making and politics that offers fresh insights into questions raised by other essays.Performance & Cultural Politics is interdisciplinary, thought-provoking, and rich in new ideas. It is essential reading for students and scholars of performance.