Faculty of Arts University of Helsinki PERFORMATIVITY IN THEATRE OR HOW TO PLAY WITH A BURNED MATCH: A Study on a Concept, a Theory and a Theatre Production Outi Lahtinen DOCTORAL DISSERTATION To be presented for public discussion with the permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, in Lecture room P673, Porthania, on the 12th of December 2020 at 10 o’clock. Helsinki 2020 ISBN 978-951-51-6875-7 (pbk.) ISBN 978-951-51-6876-4 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2020 ABSTRACT Performativity in Theatre or How to Play with a Burned Match: A Study on a Concept, a Theory and a Theatre Production This dissertation considers the concept of performativity as it originates from philosopher of language J. L. Austin (1911–1960) and examines how the concept functions with respect to a theatre production. The focus of the study is two-fold. First the trajectory of the concept is examined and an appropriate interpretation to suit the purposes of performance analysis is formulated. Second, an analysis of a production is carried out. The discussion about the concepts of the performative, performativity and a speech act is multifaceted and ramified. It includes debates and contradictory interpretations. This study presents an introduction to Austin’s original theorization about exploring speech as action. The main source for this discussion is How to Do Things with Words (1962), a book that was posthumously composed and edited based on Austin’s lecture notes. The continuation of the discussion on performativity is presented selectively. A debate between Jacques Derrida and John R. Searle is discussed thoroughly because of its further influence, particularly in the fields of theatre and performance studies, which is the home ground of this study. Philosophers Stanley Cavell, who sustained the orientation of Ordinary Language Philosophy – the original context for Austin’s philosophy – and Judith Butler, who has expanded the range of performativity from speech to, for instance, the fields of gender theory and political activism, feature as the most important participants in the discussion. Literary scholar Shoshana Felman, who made an original reading of Austin both in terms of thought as well as speech (as action), is also included among the interlocutors of the study. Furthermore, adaptations of the concepts of the performative and performativity in the field of theatre studies are mapped in broad outline. 3 The case study for which the majority of this dissertation is dedicated is called Tulitikkuja lainaamassa eli elämän ihmeellisyys (Gone to Borrow Matches or The Strangeness of Life) (adapt. Veijo Meri – Kalle Holmberg, dir. Kalle Holmberg) and it was performed at Tampere Workers’ Theatre as the 100th anniversary production of the theatre in 2001. The production was a multilayered and palimpsestuous composition that combined an adaptation of a popular classic, Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (Gone to Borrow Matches) by Maiju Lassila, with a selection of related texts both from literary and biographical sources. The analysis of the aesthetic features of the production, the conventions to which it relates, its contexts and intertexts as well as its relation to the assumed audience exposes fractures in the conception of theatre and the identification assumed to its spectators. My study shows how an analysis that explores a theatre production from the viewpoint of performativity offers a possibility for a nuanced understanding of a theatre production as a communicative act whose success is dependent on several aspects in the entirety of the deed. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Doctoral dissertations tend to be long projects, and mine has been a particularly long one. During these years, I have benefitted greatly from many people’s benevolence, generosity and intellectual contribution. It is difficult to find big enough words to express my gratitude. From the point of departure of this study I have had the support and guidance of Prof. Emerita Pirkko Koski. She has been a very important influence in my life in so many ways. After completing my licentiate, I changed the language of my work from Finnish to English. At the same time my focus shifted from the aesthetic to a more thorough engagement with the theoretical/philosophical side of the project. Along with these changes I was privileged to have Prof. Emerita Janelle Reinelt as my other supervisor. I have benefitted tremendously from the complementary expertise of these two distinguished scholars. Apart from that, they are both warm-hearted persons who I admire both professionally and humanly. One important environment both for the development of my thesis as well as my own academic growth has been the ICATS (the International Centre for Advanced Theatre Studies/ University of Helsinki) summer schools that I attended for several years between 1998–2005. There I enjoyed intellectually engaging in-depth discussions with professors Pirkko Koski, Bruce McConachie, Janelle Reinelt, Freddie Rokem, Steve Wilmer and William B. Worthen as well as with numerous international and Finnish students – many of whom I am happy to call colleagues and friends. Important academic environments have also been the IFTR (International Federation for Theatre Research) conferences, and there especially the Performance Analysis working group, and the Finnish Theatre Research Society TeaTS. In both arenas distinguished scholars have generously shared their knowledge and insight with me and thus advanced my work decisively. Students whom I have taught during these years are also a part of the academic community that has shaped me, and I am grateful 5 to have had the chance to make these encounters. Many of the students have also become colleagues and friends. During my project I have been grateful to receive financial support from a number of sources. Suomen Kulttuurirahasto gave me my first extensive scholarship with which I completed my licentiate, the early version of this study. After that I gained financial support from the Niilo Helander Foundation and the University of Helsinki. I wish to thank them all. I am grateful to TTT theatre or – as I obstinately call it in this study – Tampere Workers’ Theatre for kindly providing me access to their materials. I also want to thank them for giving me permission to use their photos in my study. Furthermore, my work has greatly benefitted from the University of Helsinki and Theatre Academy libraries. An endless source of support, encouragement and recreation has been my family and friends with whom I have had the chance to leave the work behind and just have fun. Writing a dissertation in English and discussing in it a production that includes so many layers of Finnish literature, theatre and history has been a challenging but fascinating task. With the challenge of language, I have been helped by four people, who I want to thank most sincerely. When I first started to elaborate this dissertation on the basis of my licentiate thesis, Maria Becker translated some pieces of that early work to be part of this study. During the whole process of her supervision, Janelle Reinelt has corrected my language with endless patience. Juha Mustanoja translated for me the manuscript of Tulitikkuja lainaamassa eli elämän ihmeellisyys (Gone to Borrow Matches or the Strangeness of Life) as well as the citations of the reviews concerning the production. In the completion of this study, Docent Emeritus Mark Shackleton has revised the language of my whole text and his devoted and thorough contribution has improved my work remarkably. In the final phases of this project, my work was significantly advanced by the inspiring and insightful comments of my pre-examiners, Prof. Emeritus Freddie Rokem and PhD Teemu Paavolainen. I want to thank them for their engaged input. I also want to thank Professor Hanna Korsberg for the smooth running of the process in the completion of my doctoral project. 6 Last but not least, I want to thank Kimmo Sirén; although our partnership has ended, our friendship has not. I am so grateful for all his cordiality, sincerity and unlimited support. Helsinki 20.11.2020 Outi Lahtinen 7 CONTENTS Abstract ........................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... 5 Contents .......................................................................................................... 8 1 Introduction: The Performative, Performativity and a Theatre Performance ............................................................................... 10 1.1 The Archeology and Geography of This Study .............................. 11 1.2 The Concept: Performative, Performativity, Performance ........... 16 1.3 The Methodology: Cultural Analysis with the Concept of Performativity .............................................................................. 21 1.4 The Tradition: Performance Analysis and Theatre Research ........ 27 1.5 The Terminology: Performance, Production, Theatre, Theatrical Event ........................................................................... 40 1.6 The Case and the Structure of the Study: Tulitikkuja lainaamassa eli elämän ihmeellisyys (Gone to Borrow Matches or The Strangeness of Life) .................. 48 2 How to Do Things with a Worn-out Concept ? ....................................... 58 2.1 Contextualizing and Casting Austin: Baz, Felman and Miller ........ 61 2.2 An Open Conflict of Heritage: Derrida