The Resistance to Theatricality

Probably the most distinctive feature of theoretical speculation concerning the theater during the past twenty years has been the cross-fertilization of this field of study with the social sciences. While traditionally theater theorists have most commonly looked to the work of literary theorists or philosophers for inspiration, concepts, and analytic strategies, today they are much more likely to look to such cultural analysts as anthropologists, ethnographers, psychologists and sociologists. The changes in the investigative fields of both theater and the social sciences as a result of this shift have been enormous—indeed the fields themselves have been significantly reconfigured. Perhaps the most familiar example of this cross-fertilization was the converging interests of anthropologist Victor Turner and theater theorist Richard Schechner, but scarcely less important have been the theatrical metaphors in the influential writings of sociologist Erving Goffman, and the emphasis on the performative aspects of language by linguists John Austin and John Searle. In each of the fields represented by these theorists, their work and the work of others who have been influenced by their approaches have radically altered both critical approaches and critical vocabulary.