6 Multisensory Hair Therapy: Exploring Intermediality and Materiality in Trey Anthony’s ‘da Kink in my hair
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Juliann Knaus
Abstract
In ‘da Kink in my hair: voices of black womyn by Trey Anthony, the mediality of hair is discussed and the representation of hair is extended to auditory, tactile, and visual features; Anthony includes the “soundscape of daily hair noises,” the entanglement of fingers in hair, and a physical ‘coil’ of hair on the stage. As a result, the intermedial aspects of drama become entangled with the multifaceted mediality of hair itself. Anthony uses the sight, touch, and sounds of hair as a starting point to discuss beauty standards, gun violence, sexuality, death, mental health, colorism, and sexual abuse, and additionally to discuss how hair can create a sense of community among Afro-Caribbean women. The hairdresser as a person touching the hair and the hair salon as a physical space hence both take on a therapeutic role in an attempt to heal the lives and the psyches of women who go there and to affirm the link between hair and identity performance. My paper thus aims to address the multisensory, material, and intermedial (re-)presentation of hair in Trey Anthony’s ‘da Kink in my hair in order to stress the cultural significance of hair in the African Canadian community. Additionally, I consider how the material poetics of hair is employed in this dramatic work and why the space of the hair salon and the profession of the hairdresser is so important for examining the ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ of Black women.
Abstract
In ‘da Kink in my hair: voices of black womyn by Trey Anthony, the mediality of hair is discussed and the representation of hair is extended to auditory, tactile, and visual features; Anthony includes the “soundscape of daily hair noises,” the entanglement of fingers in hair, and a physical ‘coil’ of hair on the stage. As a result, the intermedial aspects of drama become entangled with the multifaceted mediality of hair itself. Anthony uses the sight, touch, and sounds of hair as a starting point to discuss beauty standards, gun violence, sexuality, death, mental health, colorism, and sexual abuse, and additionally to discuss how hair can create a sense of community among Afro-Caribbean women. The hairdresser as a person touching the hair and the hair salon as a physical space hence both take on a therapeutic role in an attempt to heal the lives and the psyches of women who go there and to affirm the link between hair and identity performance. My paper thus aims to address the multisensory, material, and intermedial (re-)presentation of hair in Trey Anthony’s ‘da Kink in my hair in order to stress the cultural significance of hair in the African Canadian community. Additionally, I consider how the material poetics of hair is employed in this dramatic work and why the space of the hair salon and the profession of the hairdresser is so important for examining the ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ of Black women.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhaltsverzeichnis V
- Einleitung 1
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Haar als Ausdrucksmedium
- 1 Delilah Speaks Hairily: Re-Reading Samson and Delilah, Dreadlocks and the Feminine Today 15
- 2 Trichotillotechne: Das Paradox schmerzhafter Kunst und die Ästhetik ausgerissener Haare in immersiven Performances von SIGNA 35
- 3 Review of the exhibition “Hair: Untold Stories”, Horniman Museum & Gardens, and Interview with Curators Emma Tarlo and Sarah Byrne 53
- 4 Rigid curls and furry spoons: Hair as a contact zone in Meret Oppenheim’s work 79
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Haar & Weiblichkeit
- 5 Yi Lei – Schwarzes Haar: Einführung, Kontext und Analyse 93
- 6 Multisensory Hair Therapy: Exploring Intermediality and Materiality in Trey Anthony’s ‘da Kink in my hair 113
- 7 Scham, Haar, Poetik. Widerständliche statt gegen-ständlicher Poetik des Haars (Feminismus, Psychoanalyse, Literatur) 129
- 8 Scham und Haare. Zur Verflochtenheit zweier Motivstränge bei Paul Celan und Elfriede Jelinek 147
- 9 Curls Dark as Rainclouds: Hair in the NālāyiraDivyaPrabandham 165
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Haar & Literatur
- 10 Tonsorial Time (is Money), or: High Modernism, Industrial Capitalism, and Hairdressing 181
- 11 Contradictions of Vitality: Vivid White Hair in Zola’s L’Argent 209
- 12 Giving the Gift of a Lock of Hair in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “I never gave a lock of hair away” and “The soul’s Rialto hath its merchandise” 227
- 13 Vom (Ab-)Schneiden eines alten Zopfes – Haar-Spaltereien in Rodenbachs Bruges-la-Morte 243
- 14 „Aber der Bart hatte unrecht“. Theodor Fontanes Männlichkeits- und Produktivitätsimagologien im Zeichen des Bartes 265
- 15 Die Haare messen das Leben. Haare zwischen Widerstand und Prekarität in Herta Müllers Roman Herztier 283
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhaltsverzeichnis V
- Einleitung 1
-
Haar als Ausdrucksmedium
- 1 Delilah Speaks Hairily: Re-Reading Samson and Delilah, Dreadlocks and the Feminine Today 15
- 2 Trichotillotechne: Das Paradox schmerzhafter Kunst und die Ästhetik ausgerissener Haare in immersiven Performances von SIGNA 35
- 3 Review of the exhibition “Hair: Untold Stories”, Horniman Museum & Gardens, and Interview with Curators Emma Tarlo and Sarah Byrne 53
- 4 Rigid curls and furry spoons: Hair as a contact zone in Meret Oppenheim’s work 79
-
Haar & Weiblichkeit
- 5 Yi Lei – Schwarzes Haar: Einführung, Kontext und Analyse 93
- 6 Multisensory Hair Therapy: Exploring Intermediality and Materiality in Trey Anthony’s ‘da Kink in my hair 113
- 7 Scham, Haar, Poetik. Widerständliche statt gegen-ständlicher Poetik des Haars (Feminismus, Psychoanalyse, Literatur) 129
- 8 Scham und Haare. Zur Verflochtenheit zweier Motivstränge bei Paul Celan und Elfriede Jelinek 147
- 9 Curls Dark as Rainclouds: Hair in the NālāyiraDivyaPrabandham 165
-
Haar & Literatur
- 10 Tonsorial Time (is Money), or: High Modernism, Industrial Capitalism, and Hairdressing 181
- 11 Contradictions of Vitality: Vivid White Hair in Zola’s L’Argent 209
- 12 Giving the Gift of a Lock of Hair in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “I never gave a lock of hair away” and “The soul’s Rialto hath its merchandise” 227
- 13 Vom (Ab-)Schneiden eines alten Zopfes – Haar-Spaltereien in Rodenbachs Bruges-la-Morte 243
- 14 „Aber der Bart hatte unrecht“. Theodor Fontanes Männlichkeits- und Produktivitätsimagologien im Zeichen des Bartes 265
- 15 Die Haare messen das Leben. Haare zwischen Widerstand und Prekarität in Herta Müllers Roman Herztier 283
