Books 169

- By Rustom Bharucha. New By Rustom Bharucha. Books

I am writing this review in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack on French satiri- I am writing this review in the immediate Terror and Performance. and Performance. Terror York: Routledge, 2014; 236 pp. $125.00 cloth, $44.95 paper, $44.95 paper, $125.00 cloth, 236 pp. 2014; Routledge, York: e-book available. and the first chapter of Terror Rustom Bharucha dedicates last to Mahatma Gandhi. to Jean Genet and the Performance - series of reflections is bookended by a lit his rich In this way, a (former) small-time crook saint, erary criminal and political and a a champion of stateless nations and a (former) lawyer, It seems that oppositions martyr... a traitor and a nation-builder, Even when Bharucha finally between them could go on forever. the end of the mentions them in the same sentence towards one not similarity: here, it is to illustrate their opposition, book, Truth other for sacrificial and the G stands for theatrical irony, together is their queer What brings Genet and Gandhi (165). ness in relation to the world of letters and the world of poli- ness in relation to the world of letters and position of marginality and Their simultaneous respectively. tics, institutional situ- excess in relation to their own historical and in the con- so rare and precious for self-renunciation, ations came from their unique capacities the route In Bharucha’s book, and especially theatre. politics, temporary world of literature, treacherous world of contemporary international pol- from Genet to Gandhi winds through the takes the reader away from the beaten paths of scholarly This itinerary itics and performance. in the book’s title. discourse on the two key terms indicated which was followed by massive expressions of support for the journal, Hebdo, cal journal Charlie such as free speech, values they stood for, Western and for some of the basic its slain authors, Beneath these very public statements (millions marching and secularism. journalistic freedom, second-tier discourse of com- etc.) is a shrines in front of French embassies world over, in Paris, who led who point out that the Kouachi brothers, especially in the US, mentators and pundits, and American lists of suspected terrorists, were on Hebdo, the attack on the offices of Charlie for dominant This is typical useful and necessary. that the NSA was after all doing something and mass media, policy-making groups, think tanks, academia, Western discourses created in “non-state actors.” which largely go unchallenged in limiting their definition of terrorism to Looking at case studies scattered Bharucha offers an important corrective to these discourses. to Rwanda and to India (chapter 2), (chapter 1), from the Philippines across the global South, and York he argues that atrocities such as the 9/11 attacks on New Africa (chapter 3), South are and the 2002 genocide of Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat, in 2001, DC, Washington, the new model of The other half belongs to “terror.” just half of the picture of contemporary speaking of the killing of more than 3,000 and example, For state that emerges across the globe. Bharucha correctly asserts that this event, displacement of some 100,000 Muslims in Gujarat, “growing Islamophobia among leaders and sup- speaks of media, Western largely overlooked in his discussion of the reinvention of the traditional legal (94); and in porters of the Hindu Right” he wonders about a as the dominant legal institution in post-genocide Rwanda, form of gacaca represent a certain Rwandan army brigadier general’s boastful claim that these village tribunals Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

170 Books determined rightsandnorms” response totherhetoricalcommandsofstatebutactualquestioningbycitizensstate- through criticaldebateanddialogue,” whileinsistingon “performing” notonlyasa “deferential people acrossdiverseclassandsocialgroupstoactuallyperformitsnegotiationsofdifference is onethingtoformulatedemocracyataconstitutionallevel, butitisquiteanothermatterfor bined withanunlimitedintensificationofitspower. Bharuchaisspot-onwhenhe writesthat “it terrorism isanexpressionoftheconservativestate’sparadoxicalclaimforderegulationcom- it findsfit, andimprisonforanylengthoftime. Wecangoasfarsayingthatcontemporary ists, andhereby “use” Imeanpresentthemtothepublic(ornot), interrogatebyanymeans abduction anddecapitation, itisentirelyatthestate’sdisposalhowgoingtouseitsterror that cemented Vladimir Putin’spowerintheearly2000s), tothePakistanofDanielPearl’s it comestovisibility, itistheotherwayaround:ideologyalwaysconcealsitselfbehind the tance shouldbereadfromright toleft, withideologycomingfirstandpersonalgrief last;when personal, historical, judicial, andideologicallevels. As itturnsout, theorderoftheirimpor Reconciliation Commissionasperformancesitesinwhichlegal actorsworkouttragedyon victimhood” (48). BharuchatheninvestigatesRwanda’s gacacaandSouth Africa’s Truth and about one’sowncondition, ize thatthisisnotalwaysthecase. Oneunfortunateresponse totragedyisaself- edy hadthepotentialtoconnectuswithhumanityinwaysprosperity doesnot[...]NowIreal- writing aboutRwandaandSouth Africa, confessedthatprior to9/11he “thought thattrag- 9/11 issue. Hesumsuphiscriticismbyreferencingpolitical theoristMahmoodMamdaniwho, Journal publishedinitsfirstpost- of severalcontributionstotheforumontragedythatTheatre sense. Bharuchasetsupthislineofargumentationearly inthebook, withanincisiveanalysis questions thecapacityoftheatretoengagemodern-dayatrocities, thischoicemakesperfect may seemcounterintuitiveatfirstglance. However, withinBharucha’slargerargumentthat tice inRwandaandSouth Africa. The inclusionofthesesiteswithinthegeography “terror” ism perpetratedbystatesandnon-stateactorsisthethirdchapter, dedicatedtotransitional jus- and Senegal, tonamesome. FromLefebvre’svantagepoint, themainpropertyofasocial- cies. ExampleshefeaturesinthisvolumeincludetheUS, Chile, France, Yugoslavia, Japan, Lefebvre’s mainpointsofreferenceweretheStaliniststateand Western socialdemocra- ing, [anda]strategyimplyingthepossibilityofwar” (2009:129). Writing inthemid-1970s, power tokill dimensions ofSMPare “(a) managerialandadministrative;(b)thepowertosecure;(c) tifies as “thestatemodeofproduction” orSMP(1977:253). AccordingtoLefebvre, themain in whichhediscussesatlengththe “intersection ofeconomyandstatepower,” whichheiden- pogrom andstate-facilitatedprogramofforgiveness? “lubricant oftheideologyRwandanicity” (119). So, whatbringstogetherthisstate-sponsored name of this Moscow theatre has been erroneously spelled as “Dubrovska” both in the body of the book and to theRussiaofDubrovka Theatre rorist attacksmakevisiblethatwhichwasalreadyinplace. FromtheNorwayof Anders Breivik, diverse examplesisthatthisSMPdidnotemergeinresponsetoterroristattacks, butthatter ization andautonomy. What Bharuchademonstrateswithgreatforceandbyusingarangeof beyond itsboundaries, sothatmonitoringachievesanunprecedentedlevelofdeterritorial- that isnolongerdividedalongsharpideologicallines. Inthismodel, thestatecontrolexpands through monitoring(134). Intheaftermathofcoldwarand9/11, anewSMPemerged is, ofcourse, theexactoppositeofStalinistSMP, basedontheambitionfortotalcontrol democratic SMPisits 1.

Particularly relevantforBharucha’sdiscussionoftheatrecaughtinthecrossfireterror We mayfind ananswerinthefinalbookofHenriLefebvre’sthree-volumeworkDeL’Etat, in index. This is a rare excellently error produced in this otherwise book. The

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by meansofrepression, “ability tocontroleverythingwithoutmonitoringeverything,” which aseekingofproofone’sownspecialplaceintheworld, even in (147). 1 themonopolyofviolence, thearmyandmilitaryspend- siege(andotherprovenandallegedChechenactions righteousness ­ ­ - - - - ­ Books 171 - Branislav Branislav Jakovljević

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The full range of the new SMP becomes observable precisely in these instances of height- new SMP becomes observable precisely The full range of the is an and Performance Terror reach and ambition, For all of its broad theoretical and political tic emotion” is repeated in performances of “professional comforters” in South Africa’s Truth Truth Africa’s in South “professional comforters” in performances of is repeated tic emotion” sessions (124). and Reconciliation Commission its ability to provide services such performance is not manifested only in State ened emotion. promise of instantaneous catharsis and the case, and in this navigable roads, as drinkable water, “gram- what Bharucha calls the but even more in past systematic crimes, justice for victims of emotional moments in transi- What peak imposes on its citizens (124). it mar of behavior” but in the process of healing, reveal is not only the power of liveness tional justice courtrooms not always inherent to the story healing according to standards that are the facilitation of this and directly Bharucha puts it as clearly its protagonists. and its setting, that is being performed, of every- “In the tense interstices that exist between the habitual performances as possible: within the performativity of state discourse, day life and the modulation of these performances in understanding how the new nations like we face one of the deepest analytical challenges In one of the most penetrating insights of this rich (121). Rwanda get performed on command” anger and Bharucha argues that what gets silenced in these court performances is victims’ book, “agenda of truth and reconciliation that com- He calls for inclusion in the need for revenge. ruthlessly excised from transformative agendas: ponent of human suffering which is so often - and Reconciliation one could offer the redemp Truth What would it be like if instead of anger. does not follow Bharucha Unfortunately, (138). Anger and Reconciliation?” tive possibilities of point indicates His argument before and after this climactic up on his brilliantly posed question. Anger and societies to serve as a self-appointed that it is precisely theatre’s role in post-conflict emotions Genetian excessive, Instead of offering the space for rich, Retribution Commission. rational- theatres of the new SMP are routinely offering of insatiable rage and thirst for justice, Among forgiveness seen as the art of compromise. izations and clichés about reconciliation and Anger and Retribution the new SMP’s repression of the idea of theatre as an other things, “war to the American theatres of European and Commission could explain the listless response on terror.” but a very is not only a certain strategy of using violence, “terror” Here intensely personal book. the book first of the author of face to face with it, intimate experience for anyone who has come bursts Bharucha’s copiously researched and carefully argued writing is paced by unexpected all. The Maids of affect: discussing his initial reaction to the 9/11 attacks while directing Genet’s of moral imagi- “failure (43); and he confesses that the “was hit” he admits that he in Manila, “strikes terror in [his] and Reconciliation Commission amnesty hearings Truth in the nation” I began to think of these spouts of emo- As I read, throughout the book. (128); and so on, heart” in the which spills out They give this text a certain feverish mood, “Rustom’s terrors.” tion as I have rarely seen a schol- live and via email. footnotes that reference personal conversations, Rustom’s terrors are not only caused arly work attempt to dialogue with so many interlocutors. they come by unspeakable violence or equally unimaginable insensitivity to individual suffering; fragmentation of voices, also from a well-founded fear of blocking the free exchange of ideas, are born of the pigeonholing and isolation of individu- they In a word, and the loss of solidarity. als that the SMP in the age of terror has perfected so well. spectacle of grief. Bharucha cites in great detail testimonies by victims of genocide in Rwanda of genocide in Rwanda by victims cites in great detail testimonies Bharucha grief. ­spectacle of - This analy analysis. keen dramaturgical submitting them to Africa, in South and apartheid media subject of careful- becomes the that each coup de théâtre performances reveals sis of legal at gacaca session, in the case of a Rwandan their discourses: agencies and tion by transnational “resident a breakdown, verge of a nervous seems on the when the perpetrator the very moment made this counseling service “is to ask: which prompts Bharucha intervenes, trauma counselor” industry endorsed by European the victims or in response to the trauma out of compassion for is built into the rendering of cathar “choreography that Similar (117). humanitarian services?” Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

172 Books Endless circularself- and suchinsistence, becomeatheatreanddemonstration ofObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder. Golub, whosubstitutestheterm “performance behavior” forpain-behavior, suchexamples, inexplicable examplesofimaginedhumaninteractions. ForperformancephilosopherSpencer the grammarofconsistent behavior. seriousness asissuingfromthe near-religious fervencyofOCD’srelationtolimits andrules, to insomniac, spunofthecreative constraintsofincapacity. Hereframes Wittgenstein’s contested (1995:29). Golubrecognizes Wittgenstein’s textsasthoughtsthinkingthemselves, anxious, “understanding as, inits correctuse, inagreementnotwithsomeexternalthing butwithitself” sive potentialityofCoraDiamond’sphraseforthework Wittgenstein’s philosophy, toshow they becomevirtuallyindistinguishable, andheseemsentirely athomeinthevertiginousrecur ies intheirminds” (8). Hisconditionandhisintention sothoroughlyinformoneanotherthat bodies aswell. Ormoreaccurately, theirmindslive toomuchintheirbodiesandbod- are alwaysbeingtoldthattheylivetoomuchintheirminds, buttheylivetoomuchintheir “an engineandartifactofcausality” andclarifieshiscondition thisway: “Obsessive-compulsives to absenting “neuroscience frommythoughtexperiment” (8). Insteadheproposesthebodyas book” (10). Headmitsto “confounding and conflatingtheordinarywithextraordinary” and dition, aconditionsharedbyGolubwhoconfessesofIncapacity : “An OCDmindcreatedthis Lefebvre, Henri. 2009. State, Space, World: SelectedEssays. EditedbyNeilBrennerandStuartElden, Lefebvre, Henri. 1977. DeL’état, Tome. 3 Paris:UnionGénéraled’Editions. References New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 from University1945–1991 isforthcoming ofMichigan Press. [email protected] Stanford University. His newbookAlienationEffects: and Performance Self-Management in Yugoslavia Branislav Jakovljević Professor isAssociate ofTheaterand intheDepartment Performance Studies at Minnesota Press. translated byGeraldMoore, NeilBrenner, andStuartElden. Minneapolis:Universityof interrogation ­ of interiority, Wittgenstein offersdreamlike, theatrical, even As heinsistentlyinterrogatestheproblemsofdisclosure returns repeatedlytopain-behavior(schmerzbenehmen): invented character. InRemarks onthePhilosophy ofPsychology he ing communicativepossibilities, anditslearned, imitated, or siders andreconsiderstheconditionsofitsaccurateormislead- behavior asanexternalindicatorofinteriorexperience. Hecon- Ludwig Wittgenstein’s laterwritingruminatesobsessivelyon University Press, 2014;290pp. $89.95cloth. Behavior. Incapacity: Wittgenstein, Anxiety, andPerformance

— able to call it the “expression” of the sensation? (1980:62e) sensation wouldthisactivityneedtohave, forustobe express thissensation. What kindofconnexionwiththe a sensation, saya “pain,” andthensomeonetaughtusto §308. Supposewecouldlearnwhatitisthatpeoplecall

the preciseformof BySpencerGolub. Evanston, IL:Northwestern

Wittgenstein’s texts

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defines thiscon - - Books 173 - props, scenery, scenery, props, lights,

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Wittgenstein’s extensive notes on color, and the differences between naming and extensive notes on color, Wittgenstein’s

actors as actors, words as speech-effort”), he is speaking in the kind of grammatical terms he words as speech-effort”), actors as actors, (107) would recognize and condone. Wittgenstein that often unexpect- his case studies accordingly, Golub positions Nuancing his chapter themes, - a machine for pro becoming at times its own fervency, attains Golub’s self-interrogation Wittgenstein’s philosophy, thus understood as therapeutic, inspected modes of grammar, and inspected modes of grammar, thus understood as therapeutic, philosophy, Wittgenstein’s perform but it defines in the sense of enabling it to Grammar does not denote language, atmosphere,’ ‘poetic I propose is not a theater of “What When Foreman writes, its tasks. in his (discernable of syntax and structure” but one which models itself on the strategies “theatrical language of and foregrounding placement, choice, ­ elation to copying (91). Foreman’s work comes into play prominently in a chapter on rules and games. play prominently in a chapter on rules and games. Foreman’s work comes into copying (91). Golub concerns him- reading of a work, no sense of obligation toward the comprehensive With or cannot dis- He frequently allows, self with an intricate weave around each chapter’s motif. lending emotional gravity and a delicate his own condition(s) to steer the discourse, allow, This all attests to theatre (and to a lesser extent film) as an obsessive-compulsive art form, not extent film) as an obsessive-compulsive art form, This all attests to theatre (and to a lesser its infinite preparations and rep- only culturally and in its endless anachronistic technologies, so often guided by their of its practitioners, but also in the personalities etitions (rehearsals), the impressive list of Hitchcock’s five phobias He takes a moment to enumerate incapacities. (including surrogate agoraphobia). “The Doors Constance appears in the chapter titled Across Lake Handke’s play The Ride edly. in “the misalignment of representation/reproduction” circulating around of Misperception,” r ducing the most urgent questions: “At what point does the mental risk of performance behavior the mental risk of performance what point does “At most urgent questions: ducing the to James referred William an end to what reward? [...] Is there real or quasi-artistic outweigh its give our Lingis proposes, as [Alfonso] we, “Should (246). [...]?” wonder sickness’ ‘egological as - the challenge of pic Or does (243). immensity without tasks’?” ‘an to what he calls selves over of the the imperative become (245), “another level of empathy” as to bring us to turing pain, being human as of being human, or anyway the condition condition, fly-bottle of our human only because it consciously exposes “therapeutic not to a method that is adhering a condition, but because light of analysis, picture-making mind to the clarifying the otherwise neurotically the meaning of consciousness of philosophy’s obsessive questioning of it does so in the light Incapacity boundless compassion, A work of tremendous scholarship and (245)? in the abstract” within the vortex of compul- and reason to set one’s own rules even from champions the need At the same for such rule setting. and attempts a diagram and specimen sion to follow them, of the everyday by persistent, transformations enacted on the topos time it accounts for the In a key distinc- on belief. by thinking through doubt’s incessant assault debilitating doubt, or that scripture), script, Golub invests in the scriptive (description, tion from the performative, He reiterates as an aspiration writing that encourages the reader to act. mode and manner of like poetry and to write its perform its writing “To two mandates of philosophy: Wittgenstein’s (247). reader toward acting” posed to both the individual and the broader central question, Wittgenstein’s Golub isolates “Why would you voluntarily incapac- as, and psychology, philosophy “man-made” practices of Golub’s many rejoinders to this question take the (245). itate yourself with your own devices?” treating them as exploded intricate examinations of works of theatre and film, form of complex, “to try to find another language He commences from Peter Handke’s charge language games. offers sus- then (6), and to make up adventure stories to go with them” for our obsessions, David Mamet, Richard Foreman, Wellman, Mac tained readings of several works by Handke, and Lynch, David Akerman, takes on films by Chantal as well as quicker Alfred Hitchcock, and offer a Golub’s readings way such an adventure. considering each in its own Welles, Orson and of echoes and images within these works, tutorial in close attention and strict association For Golub: texts. Wittgenstein’s between them and Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

174 Books with unflinchingauthority. from “the expresseddesiretostopthatwhichonerefrainsfromstopping” (218), anddoesso (218). Assuming suchriskaswriting’sresponsibility, Golubnavigatesthethreatofemptiness, which itsowntherapeuticsleads “might infactleaveanemptinesswherephilosophyhadbeen” ate cerealobsessively” (268). Incapacity, fullofgracenotesandtorment, risksthattheclarityto from imagineddogattacks” (276), orthis: “[Foreman] isinterestedinthefactthat Wittgenstein fer fromcynophobiaandhavewalkeddownthecentersofmanystreetstoequidistancemyself like adepthchargeallowingittodetonateinspectacularmicroburst, likethis: “I alsosuf- knowingness ofLewis’s “idiot persona” inTheBellboy(1960). Periodically, hedropsafootnote revelatory assessmentofDeanMartinandJerryLewis, payingparticularattentiontothenot- of theproblemspresenceandbodyonstage. Nearthebook’sconclusion, Goluboffersa the book’sstudiesofcomedians. SteveMartin’searlystanduproutinesprovokeconsiderations do becauseIcannot(i.e., myincapacity)” (151). der sleep”), amongsomanyothers, allintheorbitof Wittgenstein and “that whichIwouldnot Third Man, MartinScorsese’sAfterHours , and William Shakespeare’sMacbeth(who “does mur ,Saul Bellow’snovelHerzog thenocturnal Viennese circumambulationsofHarryLimein The Nose (“NosinRussian, aninversionoftheRussianwordfordream, whichisson” [147]), through phobic neighbor, inturnsettingoffawebofassociationsfromNikolaiGogol’sshortstoryThe Center, theproceduresofwhichtriggeramemoryhisyoungson’sinteractionwithanagora- It opensandcloseswithGolub’sexperienceasaparticipantinstudyatSleepDisorders ness, unforgivinglydemonstratesthenotionofphilosophy’swakefulnesswhileotherssleep. narrative structure. The chapter “Non-Sleeper Agents,” dedicatedtoinsomniaandsleepless- The Black Body inEcstasy:ReadingRace, ReadingPornography. New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 Art Institute [email protected] Matthew Goulish isthedramaturgeforEvery househasadoorandteacheswritingatTheSchoolofthe Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1980. Remarks onthePhilosophy ofPsychology, Volume I . Translated byG.E.M. Diamond, Cora. 1995. TheRealisticSpirit: Wittgenstein, Philosophy, andtheMind. Cambridge, MA: The References deeply personal(aesthetic, erotic, sexual)anddeeplysocial” (3). Through closereadingsofthe always speakingrace” (72). These fraughtformsofracial- racial fictionsandthenoverturning them, revealforNashtheextenttowhich “speakingsexis pleasures nevertheless. The thrillsoflookingandbeinglookedat, forexample, orofactingout Nash assertsthatthesepleasures maybeunnerving, unsettling, orcomplicated, yettheyare jects locatepleasuretherein, both ascharactersinthesefilmsandconsumerswatchingthem. ages oferoticfilm(the1970sand1980s, respectively), andthemyriadwaysinwhichblacksub- The Black Body inEcstasyexaminesracializedpornographyfromtheso-calledGolden and Silver $23.95 paper. Nash. Durham, NC:DukeUniversityPress, 2014;240pp.;illustrations. $84.95cloth, Throughout Golubmaintainsadegreeofplayfulness, perhapsajoyofcreation, notablyin Anscombe. Chicago: The UniversityofChicago Press. MIT Press.

sexual ­ “ecstasy,” Nashargues, are “both

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ate Goulish Matthew By Jennifer C. - Books 175 - -

- Nash ­ sexual, viewed by

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as her site of exploration,

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the black female body might repair or

“collec- ­ century —

structures the relationships between spec

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and how

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sexualized wounding including Patricia Hill Collins, including Patricia Hill

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(1974), for example, the fault lines between the genre conventions for example, (1974), these theorists nevertheless these theorists nevertheless

Nash suggests, as do the 1850 slave as Nash suggests, —

both gender and racial

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Nash is careful to avoid suggesting that the paradigm of wounding and recovery is unneces Nash is careful to avoid suggesting that the heretofore loomed large for those black femi- Audre Lorde’s conception of the erotic has engagement with the foundational work of Linda Nash’s In terms of feminist porn studies, The more central of these two interventions is Nash’s “lov- interventions is Nash’s central of these two The more tator and protagonist, with the spectator seeking the ‘truth’ of something unknown” (19). (19). ‘truth’ of something unknown” seeking the with the spectator tator and protagonist, close readings of racialized pornography show that viewers might be Nash suggests, However, In Lialeh situated differently. Sexworld of Blaxploitation and pornography create space for black and queer viewing pleasure. reclaim itself through the visual field. that para- yet she convincingly argues that the insistent preoccupation with sary or invaluable, Using pornography of pleasure. digm forecloses considerations of the possibilities many as the ultimate sight of racialized, that take place within structures of domina- is able to argue for admittedly complex pleasures nor is she always to heal from a wound of looking, The black subject is not always trying tion. she may relish the complicated Rather, contain her. eyeing critically the racial structures that if For Nash, whether or not that pleasure is shot through with pain. pleasure of being looked at, “pow- providing us with they can also be empowering, racial-sexual pleasures can be oppressive, titillate even within power structures that might erful vocabularies for naming what we desire” (150). as they organize what we imagine to be possible of yet readers hoping for an extensive consideration nists who would seek to discuss pleasure, not find it here (though Lorde’s erotic does receive the erotic in comparison to the ecstatic will are easy enough to imagine: Lorde’s erotic is deeply per The reasons for this passing mention). and does not necessarily involve the sexual; whereas invested in repair and wholeness, sonal, Nash’s ecstasy locates its pleasures in the nexus of the personal–societal and the racial– Lorde bluntly condemned the porno- Further, painful bits. and it makes ready use of messy, for those black Yet work is a form of respect. and perhaps her absence from Nash’s graphic, the familiar contours of the erotic might have feminists already steeped in Lordeian thought, that is a minor complaint. Still, helped to throw Nash’s conception of ecstasy into higher relief. well as subsequent contributions on race in porn by Mireille Miller-Young, as Williams, “pre- reveals the extent to which the field and Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Constance Penley, sumes that difference daguerreotypes commissioned by Louis Agassiz and the auction Agassiz and the auction by Louis daguerreotypes commissioned “vibrant Though Nash assembles a them.) block that preceded of thinkers group and varied” - produc female body as an injured site, tively perform the black wounding calls for Such (25). ‘grammar’ of woundedness” ing an archive that is structured by a “salvage the black female body from the Nash’s term for academic attempts to “recovery work,” shows that the largest divergence among her fellow black Nash (47). violence of the visual field” feminists lies in their beliefs as to whether ing critique” of black feminism (8). Nash devotes her entire Nash devotes (8). of black feminism ing critique” show- representational thought, to black feminist first chapter cadre of scholars and artists that black ing through a diverse of frames the visual field as the site feminist theory consistently (The 19th- scopic wounding. racialized and sexualized Baartman looms as an originary site of exhibition of Saartjie injury for black feminism, Renee Nicole Fleetwood, Janell Hobson, Hortense Spillers, Williams and Carla Cox, racial iconography of several pornographic films and briefer films and of several pornographic racial iconography intervenes in Nash contexts, of their cinematic considerations feminism. and black porn studies, fields: feminist two academic Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

176 Books [email protected] Tina Post isadoctoralstudentinAfricanAmerican andAmerican Studies at Yale University. Nash’s workisatestamenttothegroundshehasopened. sexual pleasures? And howhastheinternet the so-calledageofmultiracialhadanydiscernableimpactonporngenresandtheirracial– tion ofporncontinuedunabated, orhaveinterracialpornscenesassertednewinfluence?Has power? Howhasracialcampshiftedovertime?HastheSilver Age’s race-specificorganiza- tions suchas:Doinvocationsofblackstereotypesworkdifferentlynowthanintheage since. Nash’sreasonableparametershaveaffordedfuturescholarsplentyofroomforques- readers comeawaywithonlytracesoftheblackbodyperforminginpornographybeforeor old.30 years Though thehistoricallandscapeofGoldenandSilver Ages iswelldrawn, Most obvious, perhaps, isthefactthatallofpornographyNashstudiesmorethan will insomewaybedistinguishedasparticular)neveractuallycomestofruition. comically undoingthem. And inBlack Throat Taboo shal herracialidentitytoheightenown(aswellaspartner’s)sexualpleasure. InBlack (1978), Nashdemonstrates, elaboratesthewaysinwhichablackfemalecharactermightmar New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 ­internet trenchant analysisoftheirefficacy invarioussituations. vides bothanessentialoverview ofthewidevarietysimulativeeventsnowoccurringand a powerful pervasivenessandpotential influenceoftheserepresentationalpractices, Simming pro- neously, “function as intensivepropaganda” towardcynicalandpartisanends(3). Inlightofthe ply educateorentertain, butrather “purport tosavetheworld” or, alternatelyandevensimulta- the stakesoftheseperformative phenomenaplainwhenheassertsthattheseeventsdonotsim - Nash’s insightfulandconciseworkleavesmanytantalizingthreadsforotherstopick up. (1984), anarrative “turn” attheendunderminesfilm’sincestuousracialstereotypesby

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changed howracial-sexualecstasyisperformed? education, business, immigration, andwarfare. Magelssenmakes ential, affectingthewaysthatpeopleunderstandandconduct more diverselocations, simmingsarealsobecomingmoreinflu - sentational activitiesarebecomingincreasinglyprevalentinever training camps(3). At thesametimethatthesetypesof repre- entific labstohighschools, livinghistorymuseumsto Army wide varietyofeducativeandentertainmentsettings, fromsci - understandings ofasituationanditscontext,” can befoundina scripted orimprovisednarrativeinordertogainproduce formative environment[s...]inwhichparticipants[play]outa Making ofMeaning, “simmings,” or “simulated, immersive, per wide-ranging bookSimming:Participatory Performance andthe As ScottMagelssendescribesinhismeticulouslyresearchedand $75.00 cloth, $35.00paper, e-bookavailable. University ofMichiganPress, 2014;264pp.;illustrations. Making ofMeaning. Simming: Participatory Performance andthe

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(1985), thepromiseoftitle(thatblackthroat the on-demand,

ByScottMagelssen. Ann Arbor: The wealthofquestionsinvitedby amateur-ready, reality-based

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ia Post Tina - - Books 177 - - ­ different “negotiate histo- to

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racial difference in this case,

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Army’s simming of an Iraqi village (to prepare for war). Each of these sec- Army’s simming of an Iraqi village (to prepare for war). the US

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In “Senior Moments,” Magelssen examines so-called “empathy” training used mostly by “empathy” examines so-called Magelssen “Senior Moments,” In The coproduction underpin all eight chapters. and narrative efficacy, Questions of agency, and simming in par “performance in general, Magelssen does not argue that Importantly, Foregrounding his own experience as a participant in a variety of simmings, Magelssen leads Magelssen leads in a variety of simmings, as a participant his own experience Foregrounding Simmings, though often utopian in intent, do not always remain so in practice. Indeed, it is Indeed, remain so in practice. do not always often utopian in intent, though Simmings, ticular, are always preferable” to other, more traditional methods of knowledge acquisition, but more traditional methods of knowledge acquisition, to other, are always preferable” ticular, By focusing on this (83). way to make meaning” “a different rather that simmings offer riographic and representational boundaries” (34). Magelssen worries that perhaps having white (34). riographic and representational boundaries” might be doing double violence to those whose lives tourists pretend to be black fugitive slaves perhaps these cast- following Rebecca Schneider, he argues, On the other hand, are represented. (Schneider 2011:70). “getting [history] right through error” ings against type can be a way of younger product designers and would-be doc- businesses and medical schools to encourage spite of the In difficulties faced by aging persons. tors to gain an understanding of the daily AgeLab at the Aging and the such as Xtreme good intentions demonstrated by organizations partic- donning an elaborate simulative suit that forces Technology, Massachusetts Institute of being an older person in the United States can back- ipants to physically feel the difficulty of it can As Magelssen explains, less empathetic. fire by actually causing participants to become “catch-22 of sorts: try to build empathy by putting a learner in another’s uncomfortable be a identity with but make the prospect of being that other repulsive by equating his or her shoes, points out some This lack of efficacy in the simulation (148–49). his or her physical suffering” experience of simming trumps the ideological aim of of the potential pitfalls when the physical the simulation. con- the Past,” “Simming the first of which, sections, chapters are grouped into three temporal including simming a siders simmings that attempt to represent historical events and practices, “Bearing In the subsequent section, embalming demonstration. War–era dead body in a Civil “about educating the partic- Magelssen considers case studies that are to the Present,” Witness and the programs” “second-person museum and include ipants to be witnesses in the moment,” Three, Part border illegally (22). which simulates crossing the Mexico-US Caminata Nocturna, that takes as its subject matter simulations or Rehearsing for the Future,” “Preenactments, and features simulated car crashes (to prevent attempt to prepare people for possible futures, “the and a tour through age (to create empathy), suits that simulate old underage drinking), sandbox” tions is amply illustrated with black-and-white photographs. the reader on a pleasurably dizzying journey through embodied simulations of car crashes, bor of car crashes, embodied simulations journey through on a pleasurably dizzying the reader der crossings, growing old, and even being dead. Engaging with both Jill Dolan’s concept of the Jill Dolan’s concept Engaging with both and even being dead. growing old, der crossings, (Dolan 2001:476–77; of queer futurity Esteban Muñoz’s theory and José utopian performative analysis with a trenchant narrative of his travels deftly weaves the Magelssen 4), Muñoz 2009:1, - to revise an unsatisfac better future and to imagine a new and can work both of how simmings however, of these events cannot, establishes that sponsors and creators Magelssen tory past (9). always rely on collaboration because those outcomes of the events, fully anticipate the outcomes and the participants to produce meaning. between the creators and actual outcomes or the potential distance between expected when Magelssen is exploring in his attention to the difficul- particularly compelling ideas emerge, experiences that his most “witness[es] simming participant of the “unmatched body” when the ties inherent in a situation that participants sometimes The disorienting difference (25). cultures” another’s histories and (chapter 1) and Are Characters” You “This is a Drama. clear in experience is made particularly Magelssen ruminates on the possible experiences In the former, (chapter 7). “Senior Moments” which allows program, Star” “Follow the North in Conner Prairie’s of non-black participants in this Most of the participants freedom in the North. visitors to simulate fugitive slaves seeking and visitors to leisure-class tourists; Magelssen wonders how the curators of program are white, “type” such events can work against body Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

178 Books expands thinkingaboutblackidentities inthe Americas. (36). As suchthebookoffers adeparturefromthenationalisticfocusofmuchjazz studiesand how theymightactuallybechangingtheworld. through simmings, Magelssen’stextexcellentlyoutlineswhytheseeventsrequireattention, and Abbottabad compound sible futures can takeplace. Byalteringhowpeopleinterpretandpreparefortheirpasts, presents, andpos- that itisinthesecontradictions, andthroughembodiedexperience, thatthemostlearning testable, freeofpoliticalcharges, orunfraughtwithcontradictions” (111). Hesuggests, though, found. The “performative actsofwitness” thatMagelssenanalyzesinthisbookarenot “uncon- co-create theirexperiences. Itisinthispotentialthattherichestpossibilitiesforsimmingsare performances haveforcreatingmultiplenarrativesandimbuingparticipantswithagencyto way, andbyemphasizinghisownembodiedexperiences, Magelssenrevealsthepotentialsuch New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 Violence intheUnited States. [email protected] objectentitledExtra/Ordinary Crime:the gunasaperforming The Place and of Performance Gun Brigham Young University. She iscompletingabookproject ontheintersectionsofrace,space,and Lindsay Adamson Livingston Professor isAssistant ofTheatre intheDepartment and Media at Arts Schneider, Rebecca. 2011. Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical London: Reenactment. Muñoz, JoséEsteban. 2009. Utopia: Cruising The Then and There.New York: ofQueerFuturity New York Dolan, Jill. 2001. “Performance, Utopia, andthe ‘Utopian Performative.’” Theatre Journal 53, 3:455–79. References ratives ofhistoricalorpotentialevents. Routledge. University Press.

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even insuchstarkcircumstancesasthemilitaryraidonOsamaBinLaden’s

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simmings challenge(andsometimesreinscribe)theacceptednar as theynecessarilyintersectwith thoseofthe Afro-diaspora” tories thatrevealthe “cultural practicesof African Americanness ies’ marginalizationofHispanophone nationsandexploreshis- US imperialism. Additionally, Vazquez writesagainstblackstud- on Cubanmusicinconsideringtheroleofraceproject of revolution. Herworkmakesanovelcontributiontoscholarship States andEurope, aswellthemusicians’responsesto the an eyetotheexperiencesofCubanmusiciansinUnited duction andconsumptionofjazzotherpopularmusicwith mance studiesscholar Alexandra T. Vazquez addressesthepro- political positionsorfantasiesaboutCuba’sisolation, perfor tional movementsofpeopleandideas. Refusingtocater torigid Listening inDetailexaminesCubanmusicrelationtotransna - 2013; 333pp.;illustrations. $80.96cloth, $20.49paper. By Alexandra T. Vazquez. Durham, NC:DukeUniversityPress, Listening inDetail:Performances ofCubanMusic. At atimewhenmoreandpeoplearelearning

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Books 179 - Arguing that cultural objects do not present cultural objects do Arguing that 1

V Nora (see 1990s the since transition socialist and 1959 since change social to relation in island the on politics 2006). Fernandes Sujatha and 2006; Moore D. Robin 2012; Torres Gámez Vazquez’s methodology of “listening in detail” provides an alternative to sociological or eth- alternative to sociological provides an detail” “listening in of methodology Vazquez’s Vazquez’s interest in race and empire prompts her to excavate overlooked geographical empire prompts her to excavate overlooked interest in race and Vazquez’s explores how Cuban music Vazquez and power, Attentive to the inseparability of knowledge of this book is a rigorous orientation for consid- Among the most significant contributions

1. nomusicological approaches to Cuban music. approaches to nomusicological and onmusic focus who scholars science social with, conversation in speaks yet from, different is work azquez’s . She persua- that slips between Bach and danzón. and calls attention to a soundtrack formance, strategies sively makes a case for the ways in which filmmakers inspired by music charted out revolu- for living outside the ideological walls erected by the United States and resisting the tion’s efforts to forge a singular Cuban collective identity. themselves as readily accessible, Vazquez presents “an interaction with, rather than a compre- rather with, “an interaction presents Vazquez as readily accessible, themselves details that might escape revolves around Her approach (9). Cuban music” of, hensive account - that exceed what is usu events and objects can emerge from A detail of analysis. other modes or could conversation, in a song or a constitute an interruption as music: it might ally defined or an album to while writing a play, the song an author listens on film, involve music discussed audible those histo- that attentiveness to such details makes argues Vazquez cover’s design. case studies drawn pri- As she examines by dominant narratives. ries that have been silenced theory, of musicians’ accounts, she serves up an elegant groove century, marily from the 20th ways for performance stud- also suggests Vazquez and personal impressions. poetic descriptions, in the conditions of historical as a performative strategy for intervening ies to explore recording of the relation between writ- the inspiration for performative articulations reproduction and as ing and listening. her focus (1996), “Greater Cuba” López’s concept of Ana M. from Borrowing relationships. and voluntary Cuban migration island but also the destinations of forced includes not just the to account for ties between New Orleans and Havana This perspective allows her and travel. She the development of the mambo (chapter 3). (chapter 1) and the relevance of Mexico to artists in discussing responses to singer Graciela addresses the forgotten movements of women identifies collaboration Vazquez Here in 1937. Pérez’s concert at the Paris club Chez Florence (chapter 2). Afro-American women and defines music as intellectual work between Cuban and against locating Cuban music in fixed geographic or This forms part of her broader argument consistently asserts instead the relevance of the music’s uncontainable Vazquez temporal terms. the performative she explores For example, identity. nature to the transnational nature of black in the Jim Crow South Dámaso Pérez Prado, Mambo, life of the signature grunt of the King of echoed She discusses a concert in which an audience of black youngsters in 1954 (chapter 3). of police. to the consternation All Stars, Afro-Cuban the grunt in response to Machito and his have She asserts that popular and academic musical anthologies has been studied and presented. to his- and must be seen in relation and exotic, organized sound to make Cuba both accessible In by social scientists and literary scholars. tories of the documentation of black populations Alfredo Rodríguez, an album recorded in 1996 by late jazz pianist her reading of Cuba Linda, She discusses the relationship between hegemony and racial taxonomy (chapter 1). Vazquez as did the of musical and literary anthologies, argues that the album defies the racial profiling display of “trafficked in the early 20th century that revue shows performed in the US in the (71). American bodies” Afro “musick- Building upon Christopher Small’s concept of ering music’s often unexpected effects. Gómez scrutinizes the early revolutionary films of Rogelio París and Sarah Vazquez (1998), ing” reads scenes of music and dance per of film editing, She identifies musical modes (chapter 4). Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

180 Books amian J. Fernández defines exceptionalism as “the widely shared perception policy ana- by academics,observers, New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 [email protected] asResident Director2010–2014 sheserved ofPrinceton University’s Semester Program inCuba. Long Beach.She hasbeencollaboratingwithdancers,actors,andmusiciansinCuba since2006.From Shanti PillaiProfessor isAssistant ofTheatre intheDepartment at California Arts State University, Small, Christopher. 1998. Musicking: The MeaningsofPerforming andListening. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan Moore, RobinD. 2006. MusicandRevolution: Cultural Change inSocialistCuba. Berkeley:Universityof Lopez, Ana M. 1996. “Greater Cuba.” InTheEthnicEye: LatinoMedia ,Arts editedbyChon A. Noriegaand Gámez Torres, Nora. 2012. “Hearing theChange:ReggaetonandEmergent Values inContemporary Fernandez, DamianJ. 2004. “Politics andRomanceintheScholarshiponCubanPolitics.” LatinAmerican Fernandes, Sujatha. 2006. CubaRepresent!: Cuban Arts, StatePower, andtheMakingofNewRevolutionary References American scholarship. ing. Throughout herdiscussionsheavoidsthe “exceptionalism” thatcharacterizesmuchCuban ily historywithconsiderationofmusicconcerts, worksofvisualart, andvariousformsofwrit- camaraderie thatisfeltifnotexactlynamed” (213). Vazquez weavesreflectiononherownfam- ratives aboutunknowngeographiesisnotmeanttobecomparative, but “a waytouneartha Vietnam, andCuba(chapter5). Heranalysisofgrowinguplisteningtopainfulparentalnar gates inlookingat “cold warkids,” namelythechildrenofimmigrantstoUSfromKorea, domestic-diaspora andblack-whitebinaries, makethebookimportantforperformancestudies. an objectofstudyasunpredictableandunstable, aswellhercommitmenttoseeingbeyond change ineconomicandculturalpolicy. Moreover, Vazquez’s determinationtoacknowledge scholars interestedinmusic-makingandconsumptionCubatodayduringthisperiodof are notrepresentedinthisbook. Nevertheless, Vazquez’s methodologyisinspirationalfor 2.

Vazquez furthercommitsherselftochartingthesurprisingterritoriesthatmusicnavi- following the norm), not ‘a case of’ but an outlier” (2004:166). following the norm), not ‘a case of’ lysts, Cuban officials and the island’s populace [that] somehow Cuba is and was different, not normal (in terms of D University Press. California Press. Ana M. Lopez, 38–58. Minneapolis: UniversityofMinnesotaPress. Cuba.” Research Review39, 2:164–77. Cultures. Durham, NC:DukeUniversityPress. The mostpopulargenresofmusiccurrentlyinCuba, reggaeton , Latin American MusicReview33, 2:227–60. 2

timba, pop-rock, andtrova,

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- Books 181 ­ ­ philosopher’s , Antioch The Incident at By Alain Badiou. Translated Translated By Alain Badiou. By Alain Badiou. Edited and Edited and Badiou. Alain By xiii). Bosteels makes this statement as a justification for his transla- xiii). 8). 8). about Badiou’s own Ahmed Tetralogy and a piece a short interview, (1959), Rhapsody Rhapsody

Within this isomorphism, Badiou is invested not only in analyzing this relationship, but also Badiou is invested not only in analyzing this relationship, this isomorphism, Within Yet despite Bosteels’s assurance that Badiou’s work is not intended to be in dialogue with despite Bosteels’s assurance that Badiou’s Yet is made up of what Badiou calls the “short phil- is made up of what Badiou calls the Theatre for the The majority of Rhapsody in elaborating a notion of true Theatre, rescuing a notion and practice of theatre from the stul- Theatre, in elaborating a notion of true It is not Theatre is a theatre of thought. true Badiou, For tifying conditions of late capitalism. but also most only a site for emotional purges and the play of identifications or reflections, Badiou’s theatre is quite clearly a importantly an experimental realm for thinking. introduced by Bruno Bosteels. Translated by Bruno Bosteels and by Bruno Bosteels Translated by Bruno Bosteels. introduced $95.00 cloth, pp. 2013; 173 Verso, London: Martin Puchner. available. e-book $24.95 paper, and introduced by Joseph Litvak. New York: Columbia York: New Litvak. and introduced by Joseph $24.95 paper, $75.00 cloth, 216 pp. 2014; University Press, e-book available. presentation ( By Alain Badiou. Translated by Susan Spitzer. Introduction by Susan Spitzer. Translated Alain Badiou. By Columbia University Press, York: New by Kenneth Reinhard. available. e-book $22.95 paper, cloth, $69.50 2013; 160 pp. Alain Badiou’s , Theatre for the Rhapsody In his introduction to in the 1980s recently translated collection of essays composed Bruno Bosteels positions the and politics, philosophy, on the mutual entanglement of theatre, English- “no intended dialogue with the field of performance studies in the text as having (Rhapsody speaking world” The Incident at Antioch: A Tragedy in Three Three in Tragedy A Antioch: Incident at The en trois actes. Tragédie d’Antioche: Acts/L’incident “representation” as Badiou’s term for the event of theatre’s performance, , tion of représentation not only because Badiou’s work is specifically not For Bosteels this is “performance.” rather than theatri- describes “representation” it is also because in conversation with performance studies, presentations embedded within the very term itself, cal enactment with the re-ness of theatre’s “performance.” fall out of the word while this necessarily iterative sense can easily the field, the essays read as intensely congruous with pivotal texts of performance studies, “twice- performance broadly construed as a mode of from Richard Schechner’s initial work on to Rebecca Schneider’s more recent work on reenact- behavior (1985), “restored” or behaved” of Badiou’s Much performance and history (2011). ments and the repetitious temporalities of performance studies texts from the 1980s, book actually reads like one of the field-founding as , Theatre for the the release of Rhapsody With except perhaps on a slightly different register. Ahmed the Philosopher and plays well as the recent translations of Badiou’s Ahmed the Philosopher: 34 Short Plays for 34 Short Plays for Philosopher: Ahmed the Else. & Everyone Children English-speaking scholars in performance studies now have the opportunity to be in a more rig- English-speaking scholars in performance with the distinct regardless of Bosteels’s introductory positioning, orous and precise dialogue, implications of a Badiouian performance studies. and political theatrical, philosophical, accompanied by five short pieces that its name, that gives the collection osophical treatise” play The a critical discussion of Jean-Paul Sartre’s include essays on theatre and philosophy, Condemned of Altona the- For Badiou, Ahmed). (a series of plays that feature a central trickster character named is politics atre has a privileged relationship to the State and the political not because theatre actors conditions of possibility: a public gathered, but because they share or politics is theatre, and elements of re- a textual referent, with voices and bodies and a space reserved for them, Rhapsody for the Theatre. for the Rhapsody Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

182 Books theatrical work, aswellnewly writtenprefacesbyBadiouhimself. tions areprecededbythorough andincisivecriticalintroductionstoBadiou’sphilosophical and into Badiouas, “not just aphilosopherbutphilosopher-écrivan” (Ahmed four inBadiou’sseriesof Ahmed plays)providetheEnglish-speakingworldwithitsfirstglance French text)andJosephLitvak’s translationofthecomedyAhmedPhilosopher(thesecond of Badiou’stragicplayTheIncidentat Antioch (publishedinthiseditionparallel totheoriginal cal work, Badiou’splaysanimateandenacthisphilosophical writing. SusanSpitzer’stranslation Rhapsody forthe Theatre. Ratherthatoccupyingarealmentirelyseparatefrom- his philosophi and thefalse, withitsattendantcharacterizationofthedoublingsandimitationstheatre (2014:23). ForbothSchneiderandBadiou, thismisogynistassociationbetweenthefeminine tially theatrical), incapableofthepuritiesandtruthsmoreelevated, moremasculine, arts” dition thathauntstheatricalityas, essentially, hystericalandhypocritical(andwomenasessen- article on “remimesis” asafeministtactic, Schneiderwrites, thereis “a longandmisogynisttra- resonates closelywithworkonfeminismandmimesiswithinperformancestudies. Inarecent inine withinpatriarchalorders, andinturnthefoundationalfemininityoftheatre’simitations, Badiou’s playtextsextendandexperimentwiththephilosophical approachoutlinedin oppositions betweentheconceptualandphysical. (59). Badiou’sthoughtsontheimitativetheatricalityoffem- ing, “the essenceoftheatreistoimitatethefeminineimitation” argues thattheatretakesholdofthisduplicitouspotential, writ- tion withoutanystablepointofreference” (Rhapsody within patriarchyisthefigureof “anevasiveidentity, animita- it fundamentallywiththerealmoffeminine. Ifthefeminine in thoughtandthebody account oftheatreasapracticethethinkingbody of theIdea[..., that isinfected, always, by desire [...;itis]theputting-into- desirous bodies. Badiouwrites, theatreis “a modeoftheIdea tual labor:itisalwaysalsoentangledwiththeunrulyforcesof theatre ofthoughtisneveronlyapurelyabstractedconcep- the impasseofaformthought” (Rhapsody theatre. Badiouwritesthattheatre “summons thespectatorat isomorphic tothepoliticalformsofourtimes. duced withintheimitativere-presentationsofatheatrethatis practical investigationofthesetheatre-truths, paradoxicallypro - formance studieswouldbededicatedtothephilosophicaland a theatre-truth” (Rhapsody ducible effectoftruth.” ForBadiou, “there issuchathingas the “theatre producesinitselfandbyasingularirre - instead toparadoxicallyconsiderhowtheplayofimitationsin it” andmustbeextractedbythephilosopherwhoknows, but a catharsismachine, norasifthetruthis “standing outsideof the taskofphilosopheristoapproachtheatreasnotonly feminine-true-Theatre as “immanentist.” Bythishemeansthat between thefalseandreal, themasculineandfeminine. and duplicitousmovementsthatdisorienttheexistingrelations tiality withinpatriarchalregimesforsubversivere-doublings to becounteredbutsimultaneouslyoffersafeministpoten- as inherentlyfeminine, isnotonlyastructureofdomination For Badiou, Badiou describeshisownmethodologicalapproachtothis a]principledimpurity” (73). Badiouoffersan this “principled impurity” oftheatrealsoaligns 103). A Badiouianapproachtoper

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not allowingforreductive 1). Bothnewtransla- 21), andyetthis

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the body bodies ­ - Books 183 (70). (70). Ahmed [The a renewed Ethan Ethan Philbrick

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Badiou provides us is a manifestation of vii). Kenneth Reinhard, in his intro- in Reinhard, Kenneth vii). and this is especially the case for

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“Improvisation on the mask of the mask” (33); viii). It is a play modeled on the work of Aristophanes and Molière It is a play modeled on the work of viii). provocative pedagogical tools for bringing an experiment in “philosophical an experiment in provocative pedagogical tools for bringing

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is a play centered on Ahmed, an immigrant worker from the hous- an immigrant Ahmed, Ahmed the Philosopher is a play centered on The Badiou began “the Incident to in his Preface as what he refers in 1982 within at Antioch These translations of Badiou’s plays offer the Anglophone world not only theatrical opportu- Anglophone the plays offer Badiou’s These translations of , 1893] serves as the source material for Badiou’s play). While all of Badiou’s plays take up While source material for Badiou’s play). 1893] serves as the City, - is Badiou’s most explic Antioch The Incident at as a concept and practice, the political broadly and work- revolutionaries, The play deploys a cast of statesmen, itly political play in content. Badiou the 20th-century Left. into the theoretical and practical crises of ers in order to delve “a pol- activates another Paul, the heroine of the play and yet that Paula, writes in his Preface ‘democracy’), Western in to that avoids right-wing opportunism (caving itics of emancipation leftist impotence (beautiful and (being oriented toward State terror), communist dogmatism The play (xi). by endless reactionary restorations)” movements followed Not only about the isomorphism between theatre and politics. Badiou’s approach to “an experimental procedure [...] seeking as Rienhard writes, the play is, politics of emancipation, It is itself (li). possibilities and political ideas” to discover in it the materials for new theatrical and rigid dogmatism, reactionary opportunism, an isomorphic enactment of a politics beyond exhausted disillusionment. “short philosophy les- and is made up of what Badiou refers to as 34 ing projects of Paris, (Ahmed sons for children” “com- play engages in a comedic tradition in which the as Badiou writes in his Preface, and, and critical perspec- ironic, powerful from the violent, edy reveals the world of the rich and the “The “Nothing,” The short scenes (with titles such as (vii). tive of the oppressed and the poor” “Contradiction”) are flyby lessons in Badiouian philosophy and “Truth,” “The Subject,” Event,” relying heavily on humorous Ahmed confronts a rotating cohort of stock characters, in which dell’arte that are indicated by sparsely written physical improvisations evocative of commedia “Improvisation on waiting” stage directions: , contextualizes the play in relation to three Pauls: Saint to three Pauls: the play in relation contextualizes , Antioch at The Incident duction to of The Foundation figure in Saint Paul: as a revolutionary Badiou has interpreted Paul (whom cru- of set theory, and primary developer Cohen (mathematician Paul [2003]), Universalism (whose La Ville and Paul Claudel [2007]), in Being and Event cial to Badiou’s thinking atmosphere of solitude that surrounded me and my activist friends” after the betrayal of the the betrayal of the after activist friends” me and my of solitude that surrounded atmosphere government (Antioch out by the Mitterrand Left carried politics in the 20th century) in vibrant language and theatrical scenarios. It is a different sort of in the theatre. but a philosophy with not just a philosophy of theatre, and Spitzer’s translations of Litvak’s, Bosteels’s, (sometimes slapstick) theatrical didacticism. ability to Badiou’s work on and in the theatre are considerable contributions not only for their but also be, give a sense of what a Badiouian approach to performance and theatre studies might for their capacity to bring Badiou’s deep engagement with theatre to light for English-speaking scholars across a variety of philosophical and political fields. joy” into the university classroom. The plays animate complex philosophical ideas (from the- The plays animate complex philosophical ideas into the university classroom. joy” to the various notions of to Badiou’s account of the Event, ories of the Subject, In his Introduction to the play, Joseph Litvak writes of these numerous improvisatory sketches Joseph In his Introduction to the play, on aggression” “comic and perform a mode of “dissolve what is socially serious” as attempts to “philosophical politics so that something like figures of authority and betrayers of revolutionary 11). 12, might open up (10, joy” but also nities to produce Badiou’s work in English, the Philosopher Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

184 Books tion onHalprinandhiswife, choreographer Anna Halprin, andoutlinestheimplementation his “RSVP” (Resource, Score, Valuaction, Performance)methodoffersbiographicalinforma- This lovinglycompiledlookinto theurbandesignoflandscapearchitectLawrenceHalprin and $30.00 paper. Alison BickHirsch. Minneapolis: UniversityofMinnesotaPress, 2014;320pp.; illustrations. careful detailingofhissubjects’lives, fromsextopsychology toconsumerism. a whitecolonialfantasy. The far-reaching insidiousness ofthetropebecomesevidentinLim’s simultaneously drawupon Western-influenced empowermentofqueer lifestylesandcaterto the passive “brown boy” bydiasporicpopulationsintheir dailylives. Bothphenomena, hesays, Anglophone queertheatreinSingapore(producedbyandfor locals)andtheperformanceof Spies’s allegedlyexploitativerelationshipswithBalinesemen. The followingchaptersexplore ignore theinfluenceofGermanexpatriateartist Walter Spiesonkecak’s formation, aswell religious ritualby Western tourism(andsometimesscholarship), while thesesameinstitutions Beginning incolonialBali, Limexaminesthekecak danceanditsbrandingasan “authentic” cized “brown boy,” butalsobylocatingthetrope’smanifestationacrossdecadesandcontinents. unexplored byscholars;Limredressesthisnotonlywithpurposefulattentiontotheeroti- the whiteman-browngirl/womandyad, themale-malesexualrelationshiphasgonelargely lels betweenwhitemaledominanceof “brown boys” and Western dominanceof Asia. Unlike childlike, In thispassionateinvestigation, Limexploresthe Western tropeofthe Asian “brown boy” cloth, $26.00paper. Eng-Beng Lim. New York: New York UniversityPress, 2014;256pp.;illustrations. $71.10 Schneider, Rebecca. 2014. “Remembering FeministRemimesis: A Riddlein Three Parts.” TDR Schneider, Rebecca. 2011. Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment. London: Schechner, Richard.and Anthropology. 1985. Between Theater References City Choreographer: Lawrence HalprininUrbanRenewal America. Brown BoysandRiceQueens:SpellbindingPerformance inthe Asias. More Books New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 collective [email protected] studiesatNewperformance York University ontheshiftingconditionsof completingadissertation Ethan basedinBrooklyn. Philbrick He isascholarandperformer iscurrently aPhD candidatein (T222):14–32. Routledge. University ofPennsylvaniaPress. effeminate, silent

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focusing onitspresenceinperformanceanddrawingparal

Foreword by VictorForeword W. Turner.Philadelphia: 58, 2 By By -

— Books 185 By ­ century By Wade By Wade

Gobert finds that Pierre Corneille’s writings on the neoclassical Gobert finds that Pierre Corneille’s writings “anti-Establishment” narrative of these artists’ performance practices, while narrative of these artists’ performance practices, “anti-Establishment”

The Mind-Body Stage: Passion and Interaction in the Cartesian Theater. Theater. in the Cartesian and Interaction Mind-Body Stage: Passion The Philosophizing Rock Performance: Dylan, Hendrix, Bowie. Hendrix, Dylan, Performance: Philosophizing Rock of design plans for public spaces in Fort Worth, TX; Seattle, WA; Minneapolis, MN; Portland, Portland, MN; Minneapolis, WA; TX; Seattle, Worth, in Fort for public spaces of design plans back- Halprin’s Bauhaus Hirsch highlights the 1960s and ’70s. cities throughout OR; and other recent crit- despite more a space, habitability of conscious his interest in the socially ground and the social usefulness In order to ensure as outmoded brutalism. of his architecture icism of some of method Anna Halprin’s choreographic Halprin incorporated of his designs, and flexibility - impressions of pub to explore and offer invited the public which into his process, “scoring” with case studies of RSVP in action, The study concludes with began. lic spaces before building rather than his Halprin’s methods, Hirsch argues that and workshop plans. maps, illustrations, shy away from discussing his more though she does not be his legacy, should built structures, to a predetermined design. such as scores that allegedly led participants controversial practices, ­others to create an also acknowledging his own position as a member of the “Establishment.” First, placing Dylan’s placing First, “Establishment.” member of the also acknowledging his own position as a the artist’s refusal Hollingshaus reconciles mutic gesture, concept of the work within Lyotard’s pinpointing political bent of many of his lyrics, to align with a political movement with the In 1965 Newport Folk Festival as a defining moment. appearance at the “gone electric” Dylan’s applies de Certeau’s concept of the fictitious nature of his- Hollingshaus the Hendrix chapter, which the outlining Hendrix’s cosmology in death, tory to the guitarist’s life and premature to dem- The chapter on Bowie engages Rancière guitarist equated electricity with spirituality. of democ- “embodies a representation though not overtly political, onstrate that Bowie’s work, Bowie’s many Hollingshaus makes illuminating claims about in its breadth and variety. racy” than but on the whole he lays the grid of theory over these three artists rather artistic hats, questions circumventing their performance practices, drawing the essence of theorizations from more fundamental to their work. Hollingshaus. Plymouth, UK: Scarecrow Press, 2013; 204 pp. $58.50 cloth. 2013; 204 pp. UK: Scarecrow Press, Plymouth, Hollingshaus. Hollingshaus uses and David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, cool Bob Dylan, the irresistibly Tackling and Jacques Rancière, Guy Debord, Michel de Certeau, Lyotard, the theories of Jean-François French drama and beyond. ideal resemble Descartes’s notions of individuality; that acting (from Molière’s time to today) ideal resemble Descartes’s notions of individuality; practice; and that the link between theatrical repre- puts Cartesian theories of interiority into mirrors the phi- the architecture of the playing space, heavily reliant on sentation and emotion, Gobert emphasizes Throughout the study, “physiology of perception.” losopher’s system of the and uses it as a between mind and body, separation, rather than Cartesian ideas of symbiosis, The examination of the epistolary model for the interaction between philosophy and theatre. one highlights correspondence between Descartes and Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia in chapter affection for an intellectual and emotional symbiosis in Descartes’s own personal life: his clear and admiration of the Princess enhanced his own philosophical endeavors. R. Darren Gobert. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2013; 264 pp. $60.00 cloth. 2013; 264 pp. CA: Stanford University Press, Stanford, Darren Gobert. R. philosophy by Darren Gobert furthers the project of creating a dialogue between theatre and R. and emotionality to 17th- geometry, applying René Descartes’s theories on subjectivity, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_r_00482 by guest on 24 September 2021

186 Books Fluxus: The Practice ofNon-Duality. New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology TDR: The Drama Review 59:3 (T227) Fall 2015. ©2015 Paik, Yoko Ono, andothers, exploringthecounterhegemonicplayfulnesswithinoeuvre. ship, thestudytraceskeyworksbyFluxuscofounderGeorgeMaciunas, JohnCage, NamJune everyday andinsignificant” andJacquesDerrida’soverturningofthesignifier-signified relation- change (21). With supportfromKitaroNishida’sZen-basedtheoryof “preoccupation withthe rience”: language, temporality, thesensorium, socialritesandrituals, andsystemsofeconomic which Fluxusconfoundsdualitywithin “five relationalsystemsthatconstitutethehumanexpe- rizes themovement, whichhasalsobeensaidtodefytheory. The authorexploresthewaysin Providing helpfulbackgroundonFluxus, sooftencalled “category-defying,” Lushetichtheo- 290 pp.;illustrations. $86.80paper. ByNatashaLushetich. New York: Rodopi, 2014;

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