Thinking Theatres beyond Sight: From Reflection to Resonance
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Ramona Mosse
Abstract
This essay seeks to propose an alternative to the established connection between theatre and theory through the sense of sight by turning to recent developments in sound studies and analyzing theatrical performance that privileges an aesthetic of aurality over that of vision. In taking Complicite’s The Encounter as a primary example of aural immersion and connecting it to philosophies of listening from Jean-Luc Nancy to Hans-Georg Gadamer but also to the complex media history of sound, the essay offers a theoretical revaluation of the concept of resonance. Resonance opens up an alternative approach to performing thought and thinking in performance. Instead of championing the distance of reflection and critique alone as the core engagement shared by philosophers and theatre audiences, the listening practices in theatre return philosophy as much as cultural practice to a renewed emphasis on mutual responsiveness and dialogue.[1]
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© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Drama, Theatre, and Philosophy: An Introduction
- Notes toward The Philosophy of Theatre
- Philosophical Theatre: Some Reflections on the Concept
- Thinking/Tragedy/Thinking Tragedy: Remarks on the Fate of Theory on Stage
- Dramatic Measures: Comedy as Philosophical Paradigm
- Is the Theatre a Zombie? On the Successful Failures of Émile Zola
- Illusions at the Theatre
- Thinking Theatres beyond Sight: From Reflection to Resonance
- Performing Democracy
- Actorship, parrhesia, and Representation: Remarks on Theatricality and Politics in Hobbes, Rousseau, and Diderot
- Reviews
- Keith Brown and Jim Miller. A Critical Account of English Syntax: Grammar, Meaning, Text. Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language ‒ Advanced. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016, 296 pp., £ 80.00 (hb)/£ 24.99 (pb).
- Craig Williamson (trans.). With an introduction by Tom Shippey. The Complete Old English Poems. The Middle Ages Series. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, lvii + 1189 pp., $ 59.95/£ 52.00.
- Kari Anne Rand.The Index of Middle English Prose: Index to Volumes I–XX. Cambridge: Brewer, 2014, ix + 603 pp., £ 95.00. Patrick J. Horner.The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXI: Manuscripts in the Hatton and e Musaeo Collections, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Cambridge: Brewer, 2014, xx + 112 pp., £ 60.00. Angela M. Lucas. The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXII: Manuscripts in Christ’s, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Sussex Colleges, Peterhouse and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Cambridge: Brewer, 2016, xxiv + 173 pp., £ 60.00. S. J. Ogilvie-Thomson. The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXIII: The Rawlinson Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Cambridge: Brewer, 2017, xl + 367 pp., £ 75.00.
- Henry Ansgar Kelly. The Middle English Bible: A Reassessment. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016, xiv + 349 pp., numerous tables, $ 69.95/£ 45.50.
- Alpo Honkapohja. Alchemy, Medicine, and Commercial Book Production: A Codicological and Linguistic Study of the Voigts-Sloane Manuscript Group. Texts and Traditions 9. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017, xv + 249 pp., 57 figures, 3 plates, 20 tables, € 80.00.
- Verena Olejniczak Lobsien. Shakespeares Exzess: Sympathie und Ökonomie. Berlin: Berlin University Press, 2015, 488 pp., € 38.00.
- Andreas Höfele. No Hamlets: German Shakespeare from Nietzsche to Carl Schmitt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, 352 pp., 17 illustr., £ 55.00.
- Stefan Horlacher (ed.). Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, xviii + 306 pp., 17 illustr., £ 60.00/$ 95.00.
- Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann (eds.). Material Ecocriticism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2014, 376 pp., $ 40.00. Alexa Weik von Mossner (ed.). Moving Environments: Affect, Emotion, Ecology, and Film. Waterloo: Wilfried Laurier University Press, 2014, 287 pp., $ 42.99.
- Books Received
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Drama, Theatre, and Philosophy: An Introduction
- Notes toward The Philosophy of Theatre
- Philosophical Theatre: Some Reflections on the Concept
- Thinking/Tragedy/Thinking Tragedy: Remarks on the Fate of Theory on Stage
- Dramatic Measures: Comedy as Philosophical Paradigm
- Is the Theatre a Zombie? On the Successful Failures of Émile Zola
- Illusions at the Theatre
- Thinking Theatres beyond Sight: From Reflection to Resonance
- Performing Democracy
- Actorship, parrhesia, and Representation: Remarks on Theatricality and Politics in Hobbes, Rousseau, and Diderot
- Reviews
- Keith Brown and Jim Miller. A Critical Account of English Syntax: Grammar, Meaning, Text. Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language ‒ Advanced. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2016, 296 pp., £ 80.00 (hb)/£ 24.99 (pb).
- Craig Williamson (trans.). With an introduction by Tom Shippey. The Complete Old English Poems. The Middle Ages Series. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017, lvii + 1189 pp., $ 59.95/£ 52.00.
- Kari Anne Rand.The Index of Middle English Prose: Index to Volumes I–XX. Cambridge: Brewer, 2014, ix + 603 pp., £ 95.00. Patrick J. Horner.The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXI: Manuscripts in the Hatton and e Musaeo Collections, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Cambridge: Brewer, 2014, xx + 112 pp., £ 60.00. Angela M. Lucas. The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXII: Manuscripts in Christ’s, Emmanuel, Jesus, Selwyn and Sidney Sussex Colleges, Peterhouse and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Cambridge: Brewer, 2016, xxiv + 173 pp., £ 60.00. S. J. Ogilvie-Thomson. The Index of Middle English Prose: Handlist XXIII: The Rawlinson Collection, Bodleian Library, Oxford. Cambridge: Brewer, 2017, xl + 367 pp., £ 75.00.
- Henry Ansgar Kelly. The Middle English Bible: A Reassessment. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016, xiv + 349 pp., numerous tables, $ 69.95/£ 45.50.
- Alpo Honkapohja. Alchemy, Medicine, and Commercial Book Production: A Codicological and Linguistic Study of the Voigts-Sloane Manuscript Group. Texts and Traditions 9. Turnhout: Brepols, 2017, xv + 249 pp., 57 figures, 3 plates, 20 tables, € 80.00.
- Verena Olejniczak Lobsien. Shakespeares Exzess: Sympathie und Ökonomie. Berlin: Berlin University Press, 2015, 488 pp., € 38.00.
- Andreas Höfele. No Hamlets: German Shakespeare from Nietzsche to Carl Schmitt. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, 352 pp., 17 illustr., £ 55.00.
- Stefan Horlacher (ed.). Transgender and Intersex: Theoretical, Practical, and Artistic Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, xviii + 306 pp., 17 illustr., £ 60.00/$ 95.00.
- Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann (eds.). Material Ecocriticism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2014, 376 pp., $ 40.00. Alexa Weik von Mossner (ed.). Moving Environments: Affect, Emotion, Ecology, and Film. Waterloo: Wilfried Laurier University Press, 2014, 287 pp., $ 42.99.
- Books Received
