Identity, Performance, and Other Muddy Signifiers: A note from the Editors
Jennifer Goff and Julia Moriarty
Identity, Performance, and Other Muddy Signifiers
Intro to Theatre students are often shocked when we unveil the horrible truth that they engage in performance every day; that whether or not they have ever set foot on a stage, the identities that they assume in everything they do are, in fact, performative. The meanings that are attached to what they believe to be their concrete identities turn out to be fluid and open to interpretation. Each forum and decision they encounter is another ingredient in the constantly shifting web of meaning that surrounds them, and their individual meanings in turn bounce off of others, shaping their performances as well.
In this issue, our authors explore some of these collisions between performance and Performance, delving into the various and sundry performative modes of theatre, dance, history, fashion, and even poker. In tracking the ways fashion and costume of an imagined future intersect in the present, Emily Kimball leads us to consider the very construction of context. In exploring the ritual of poker, Patrick Konesko illustrates a modern day mythology come to life. In immersing himself voluntarily in a distant and painful past, Stephen Harrick opens up chinks in contemporary armors. In observing a complex local dance festival, Laurelann Porter bears witness to an astonishing blend of tradition and innovation. In relating her own experience of a prominent theatre performance, Mayurakshi Sen assesses the effectiveness of a particular collection of artistic decisions and signs. The myriad modes of meaning, identity, and performativity that meander through these articles weave a compelling patchwork of insight into the way performance and performativity are at work in our daily lives. As these essays probe the depths of meaning, they question what other pockets and caves still remain to be explored.
Intro to Theatre students are often shocked when we unveil the horrible truth that they engage in performance every day; that whether or not they have ever set foot on a stage, the identities that they assume in everything they do are, in fact, performative. The meanings that are attached to what they believe to be their concrete identities turn out to be fluid and open to interpretation. Each forum and decision they encounter is another ingredient in the constantly shifting web of meaning that surrounds them, and their individual meanings in turn bounce off of others, shaping their performances as well.
In this issue, our authors explore some of these collisions between performance and Performance, delving into the various and sundry performative modes of theatre, dance, history, fashion, and even poker. In tracking the ways fashion and costume of an imagined future intersect in the present, Emily Kimball leads us to consider the very construction of context. In exploring the ritual of poker, Patrick Konesko illustrates a modern day mythology come to life. In immersing himself voluntarily in a distant and painful past, Stephen Harrick opens up chinks in contemporary armors. In observing a complex local dance festival, Laurelann Porter bears witness to an astonishing blend of tradition and innovation. In relating her own experience of a prominent theatre performance, Mayurakshi Sen assesses the effectiveness of a particular collection of artistic decisions and signs. The myriad modes of meaning, identity, and performativity that meander through these articles weave a compelling patchwork of insight into the way performance and performativity are at work in our daily lives. As these essays probe the depths of meaning, they question what other pockets and caves still remain to be explored.
- JG & JM
