In Sickness and in Health: “Performativity” and “Autopoiesis” in US Feminist Theater

Year 2010, Issue: 31, 79 - 96, 01.04.2010

Marta Fernández-morales

Abstract

In 1973, John Wilson described the methods of persuasion used by contemporary social movements as “more often than not, unorthodox, dramatic” 227 emphasis added . In the same year, Richard Schechner identified seven areas where performance theory and the social sciences coincided: 1 Performance of everyday life, including gatherings of every kind. 2 The structure of sports, ritual, play, and public political behaviors. 3 Analysis of various modes of communication other than the written word ; semiotics. 4 Connections between human and animal behavior patterns with an emphasis on play and ritualized behavior. 5 Aspects of psychotherapy that emphasize person-to-person interaction, acting out, and body awareness. 6 Ethnography and prehistory—both of exotic and familiar cultures from the Western perspective . 7 Constitution of unified theories of performance, which are, in fact, theories of behavior. 16 emphasis added 2

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