Product Description

This text explores the concept of these related terms and considers the complex relationship that exists between all three. This useful guidebook is an essential read for any student of literature, drama, theatre and performance studies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #281687 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From the Back Cover
What do we mean when we refer to the study of performing arts as 'drama', 'theatre' or performance'? This book examines the history and use of the terms and investigates the different philosophies, politics, languages and institutions with which they are associated.
Simon Shepherd and Mick Wallis:
*analyze changing attitudes to drama, theatre and performance
*trace political interventions in the field(s)
*explore the institutionalization of drama and theatre as university subjects, then the emergence of 'performance' as practice, theory and as an academic discipline
*guide readers through major approaches, from theatre history, to performance as paradigm for a postmodern age
*discuss crucial terms such as action, alienation, catharsis, character, empathy, interculturalism, mimesis, presence or representation in a substantial 'keywords' section.
The authors continually link their analysis to wider cultural concerns, providing the most wide-ranging and authoritative guide available to a vibrant field and the vigorous debates surrounding its nature, purpose and place in the academy.