Copyright by Heather Leigh Barfield 2012 The Dissertation Committee for Heather Leigh Barfield Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Artaud’s “Daughters”: “Plague,” “Double,” and “Cruelty” as Feminist Performance Practices of Transformation Committee: Omi Osun Joni L. Jones Charlotte Canning Paul Bonin-Rodriguez Allucquére Sandy Stone Pauline Strong Artaud’s “Daughters”: “Plague,” “Double,” and “Cruelty” as Feminist Performance Practices of Transformation by Heather Leigh Barfield, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2012 Dedication For PopPop, for seeing all my shows, even the weirdo ones. Acknowledgements No journey is walked alone. On my path these past years, I have accumulated great appreciation for those who have encouraged me, challenged me, ridiculed me, loved me, and cajoled me to excel in my efforts. I give great thanks to the faculty and my colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin’s Performance as Public Practice Program. In particular, I’d like to thank Ann Daly, whose candid conversations with me were revelatory and thought-provoking. I have much respect and sincere gratitude for Jill Dolan, who enthusiastically pushed me to think rigorously; and, Omi Osun Joni L. Jones, whose counsel and advice were invaluable, reminding me to acknowledge all the wondrous things I’ve accomplished amidst the furor of life’s hardships and strain. I would also like to acknowledge Allucquére Sandy Stone for her generous and uplifting conversations about many exciting and “cruel” subjects. The ACTlab, under the direction of Dr. Stone, inspired me to approach and then apply my practices and theories into an actualized and physical reality. Pauline Strong, whom I have known since my early years as an anthropology undergraduate student, has been one of my most cherished advisers in the academy. I am so grateful that fate continually threads her into the stitches of my intellectual quilt. Paul Bonin-Rodriguez—who elegantly performs the role of artist- scholar-citizen— is someone who walks the walk and I am continually amazed. Also, Charlotte Canning has provided some of the most invigorating research questions during this process. She tirelessly and gracefully steers a department of eccentrics, passionate academics, and progressive thinkers. I have much admiration for her capabilities as a scholar, historian and compassionate adviser. v Among the star-studded cast of PPPers, there are those who have endured me, especially during my neurotic outbursts, and laughed with me during desperate moments. In particular, I give countless hugs and hookahs to my academic brother and colleague, Fadi Skeiker. I thank Carrie Kaplan for long talks and honest feedback. (Now, let’s go find Duder!) Many others have supported me in this process by reading drafts, eliciting fruitful debate, and teaching me how to communicate with clarity and focus. Jaclyn Pryor, Angie Algren, Clare Croft, Shelley Manis, Kelly Howe, Chase Bringardner, Rebecca Hewitt, Michelle Dvoskin, Tamara Smith and many others I have been inspired by in classroom conversations: thank you and merci. I am also grateful for those of us who cautiously and foolishly walk the tightrope between performance art practice and performance art scholarship; in particular, Rudy Ramirez, Cassidy Browning, and Beliza Torres: how I love thee! Thank you for all your flare, shine, and bold willingness to say, while snapping a finger, “I’m doing it.” I am enormously grateful for my family and close friends who have seen me at my best and worst. I am blessed to have such a wide net to fall into when I slip off my high horse. Most especially, I thank my mother for believing that I can accomplish whatever I what in this life, and my father, who likes to discuss mathematics, despite my palpable fear of such a vile subject. And, to Jason, for a kind of love that to this day baffles me. I thank Tom and Dot Cole for parties and good food to nourish the soul. I also thank my community of radical ladies and edge-walkers: you are the beating heart in this dissertation. I thank my spirit-sister, Bonnie Cullum, and fellow artists at VORTEX Repertory Company for providing a nourishing artistic family and home. I also thank the Austin Shambhala sangha for teaching me basic goodness, sanity, and kindness during all sorts of emotional weather. Also, thank you to Latifah Taormina, Marcy Hoen and the team at Austin Creative Alliance for keeping me employed in a fantastic day job, and for vi listening to my talks about theory when the bills need to be paid and the grants need to be written. I give great clamor of cheer to the alligator man who likes fruitcakes and mean girls. I have made you into a mythology. That’s what I do: I’m an artist. Thank you, Melinda Rothouse, for your meticulous eyes and patience. Also, I offer a royal bow to snow mountain. I am still watching. To my fellow DbD participants, I thank you for your willingness to make art together under “extreme” circumstances. I acknowledge the women who have contributed to shaping my life’s form, path and ideological musings. These women have guided me towards becoming a more whole, healthy, loving, compassionate and honest human being. Sometimes, I rage; but these women have encouraged me to believe that my rage is informative and that art and expression of myself through art-making can heal these sores and wounds, leaving rugged and proud scar tissue in the healing process. Dr. Annie Sprinkle has taught me how not to be afraid of my sensual, highly sensitive body. Rachel Rosenthal has taught me how to be fearless and acknowledge the sensitivities of my heart. This, she says, is symptomatic to all artists. “We are sensitive because we create and see the invisible where once there had been nothing,” she once said to us during a DbD workshop. Finally, thank you, Forest. Your childhood glee and wonder pop me into the present truth with joy and lightheartedness during those times when I stubbornly cling to the thickness of my illusions. I love you, son. vii Artaud’s “Daughters”: “Plague,” “Double,” and “Cruelty” as Feminist Performance Practices of Transformation Publication No._____________ Heather Leigh Barfield, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2012 Supervisor: Omi Osun Joni L. Jones The purpose of this study was to identify Artaudian criteria contained in three different performance practices including (1) a television performance, (2) a live performance, and (3) a workshop performance. These included, respectively, (1) an episode from The X-Files television series; (2) MetamorphoSex, a live ritual performance with performance artist Annie Sprinkle; and (3) Rachel Rosenthal’s DbD Experience Workshop. Core criteria of Artaudian Theater of Cruelty were established through analyses of the relevant literature. These criteria were then coupled with characteristics of French feminist theory and a “shamanistic” perspective to create a theoretical-analytic tool with Artaudian criteria as its centerpiece. Also, performance analysis, experiential and experimental reflexive-subjectivity, and performative poetics were techniques applied for analytic purposes. Analyses identified a range of Artaudian criteria and feminist and “shamanistic” characteristics in the three performances; these included radical and performative poetics, embodied states of ecstasy and transformation, and non- viii reliance on written texts and scripts in performance practices. Among other things, analyses of different performance practices indicates that identified Artaudian performances, as a whole, tend to hinge upon performing “in the extreme” and may inadvertently serve to reinscribe race and imperialist hegemonies through an exaggeration of performing “whiteness in the extreme.” Additionally, women performing “in the extreme” are often unfairly characterized as heightened and exaggerated examples of “womanness.” Masked behind themes of women’s empowerment are cultural and performative archetypes of woman as “goddess,” “monster,” or heartless “cyborg.” Implications of these findings are discussed as well as the creation of public spaces where groups of people gather for an “extreme” performative event that, through dramatic spectacle and purpose, unites them with a particular theme or focus. It is argued that such spaces have the potential to catalyze endeavors seeking transformation and, in particular, transform the social lives of the participants. ix Table of Contents Dedication .............................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................v Artaud’s “Daughters”: “Plague,” “Double,” and “Cruelty” as Feminist Performance Practices of Transformation ........................................................................ viii Table of Contents .....................................................................................................x List of Figures ...................................................................................................... xiv Chapter One: Introduction .......................................................................................1 Antonin Artaud and The Theater of Cruelty: Historical Background ............2 Purpose and Scope of Study ...........................................................................5