Abstract
This paper addresses the strained relationship between parrhesia and actorship and analyzes its political implications. These two terms seem to be antipodes: parrhesia emphasizes the presence of a speaker or author whereas actorship deploys representation. As their relation can be explained by means of the concept of representation it is worthwhile considering the two settings in which representation matters: theater and politics. These settings will be explored in case studies on Hobbes’s, Rousseau’s, and Diderot’s accounts of parrhesia and actorship. Hobbes dismisses parrhesiastic freedom, minimalizes political authorship and favors a model of representation featuring a peculiar, powerful actor: the State. Rousseau criticizes actorship and representation, and seeks to re-install the people as sovereign author. This author is equipped with a strangely distorted form of parrhesia. Diderot takes neither Hobbes’s nor Rousseau’s side. He hints at the political potential of the author-actor relationship and paves the way to a revised notion of parrhesia.
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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