Philosophy has been extremely influential within the field of performance studies. Yet, the centrality of embodied practices and the influence of postcolonial studies have forced performance studies to grapple with a double tendency within philosophy: the privileging of archival over embodied knowledge, and the heavy colonial weight of the History of Philosophy as an European project. This is made even more relevant within the Americas, where the colonial history of philosophy and the colonial history of theatre, dance, and performance art have constantly generated anxieties surrounding dialogues between these two fields in a hemispheric context. The purpose of this group is to work with and at this anxiety, by both mapping and questioning relationships between performance and philosophy within and across the Americas. It aims to provoke discussion as it argues for a broader epistemological legitimization, one that takes into account a diversity of embodied practices and geographical specificities.
Performance philosophy and its politics (in the Americas)
11 members
Description
Philosophy has been extremely influential within the field of performance studies. Yet, the centrality of embodied practices and the influence of postcolonial studies have forced performance studies to grapple with a double tendency within philosophy: the privileging of archival over embodied knowledge, and the heavy colonial weight of the History of Philosophy as an European project. This is made even more relevant within the Americas, where the colonial history of philosophy and the colonial history of theatre, dance, and performance art have constantly generated anxieties surrounding dialogues between these two fields in a hemispheric context. The purpose of this group is to work with and at this anxiety, by both mapping and questioning relationships between performance and philosophy within and across the Americas. It aims to provoke discussion as it argues for a broader epistemological legitimization, one that takes into account a diversity of embodied practices and geographical specificities.