Performative writing
Encyclopedia
Performative writing is a form of post-modernist or avant-garde
academic writing, usually taking as its subject a work of visual art or performance art
. It is often loosely semi-autobiographical, free-flowing in an ersatz
stream-of-consciousness mode, and heavily informed by left-wing critical theory
, but arises ultimately from linguistic
ideas around performative utterances. It often weaves together a bricolage
of other writing styles; since performative writing sees "the form as being as important as the content". In this it is claimed to be politically radical, because it thus 'defies' literary conventions and traditions.
It is often practiced by feminist writers. The most notable current writer in performative writing is the feminist theatre theorist Peggy Phelan. She describes the form as one which....
Such a writing form is claimed to be, in itself, a form of performance. It is said to more accurately reflect the fleeting and ephemeral nature of a performance, and the various tricks of memory and referentiality that happen in the mind of the viewer during and after the performance.
Critics of performative writing have described it, in practice, as: self-indulgent; insular; politically neutred due to its tiny elite audience and its neo-romantic
individualism
; obscurantist; often bearing only a loose relationship to the works of art it claims to be about; and dependent on the funding (of universities and public arts funding) of the very state
that it claims to be against. Also that, when taught, it often paradoxically expects students to reveal personal truths and use experimental forms within a strict classroom regimen of grades, lesson attendance and exams. It can generally be seen to follow the pattern of much modernist writing, in that it seeks to create complex new literary approaches in order to seal off 'high art culture' from the attention of ordinary people and from a mass culture.
The term performative writing should not be confused with "writing that is performed", i.e.: plays
, radio
or poetry
readings.
Performative writing is sometimes referred to by the alternative name of 'creative critical writing' - which is not to be confused with straightforward creative writing
.
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
academic writing, usually taking as its subject a work of visual art or performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
. It is often loosely semi-autobiographical, free-flowing in an ersatz
Ersatz
Ersatz means 'substituting for, and typically inferior in quality to', e.g. 'chicory is ersatz coffee'. It is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement...
stream-of-consciousness mode, and heavily informed by left-wing critical theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
, but arises ultimately from linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
ideas around performative utterances. It often weaves together a bricolage
Bricolage
Bricolage is a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by such a process...
of other writing styles; since performative writing sees "the form as being as important as the content". In this it is claimed to be politically radical, because it thus 'defies' literary conventions and traditions.
It is often practiced by feminist writers. The most notable current writer in performative writing is the feminist theatre theorist Peggy Phelan. She describes the form as one which....
- "enacts the death of the 'we' that we think we are before we begin to write. A statement of allegiance to the radicality of unknowing who we are becoming, this writing pushes against the ideology of knowledge as a progressive movement forever approaching a completed end-point." (Mourning Sex, 1997)
Such a writing form is claimed to be, in itself, a form of performance. It is said to more accurately reflect the fleeting and ephemeral nature of a performance, and the various tricks of memory and referentiality that happen in the mind of the viewer during and after the performance.
Critics of performative writing have described it, in practice, as: self-indulgent; insular; politically neutred due to its tiny elite audience and its neo-romantic
Neo-romanticism
The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in music, painting and architecture. It has been used with reference to very late 19th century and early 20th century composers such as Gustav Mahler particularly by Carl Dahlhaus who uses it as synonymous with late Romanticism...
individualism
Individualism
Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own...
; obscurantist; often bearing only a loose relationship to the works of art it claims to be about; and dependent on the funding (of universities and public arts funding) of the very state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
that it claims to be against. Also that, when taught, it often paradoxically expects students to reveal personal truths and use experimental forms within a strict classroom regimen of grades, lesson attendance and exams. It can generally be seen to follow the pattern of much modernist writing, in that it seeks to create complex new literary approaches in order to seal off 'high art culture' from the attention of ordinary people and from a mass culture.
The term performative writing should not be confused with "writing that is performed", i.e.: plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
or poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
readings.
Performative writing is sometimes referred to by the alternative name of 'creative critical writing' - which is not to be confused with straightforward creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
.
Further reading
- Lynn Miller & Pelias Ronald (Eds.) The Green Window: Proceedings of the Giant City Conference on Performative Writing (Southern Illinois Press; 2001).
- Jeffrey Williams. "The New Belletrism". Style; Fall 1999. (Full text link)
External links
- artist in performative writing the media artist inspects the notion of "performativity into writing" and the idea of "text theatricality" in her MFA.