Popular Culture and Performance – Richard Schechner – 1985
Exploring the Interplay of Ritual, Theatre, and Everyday Life
Richard Schechner’s Popular Culture and Performance examines the fundamental connections between performance, ritual, and everyday life. The work proposes that all human behavior is, to a degree, performative, drawing on anthropological and theatrical perspectives to analyze a broad range of cultural expressions. Schechner moves beyond traditional theatrical boundaries to investigate how performance operates in contexts such as sports, political rallies, religious ceremonies, and even everyday interactions.
Historical / Cultural Context
Published in 1985, this work emerges from a period of increasing interdisciplinary inquiry, particularly in performance studies and cultural anthropology. Schechner was a key figure in the development of performance studies as a distinct field, moving away from solely text-based analysis of theatre to a broader investigation of enacted behaviors. The book reflects a post-structuralist interest in deconstructing traditional hierarchies between ‘high’ art and ‘low’ culture, and it’s rooted in the work of scholars like Victor Turner, Erving Goffman, and Clifford Geertz. It responds to a growing awareness of the performative aspects of social life and the ways in which identity is constructed through enactment. Schechner’s work built upon earlier ideas from theatre practitioners like Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud who questioned conventional notions of theatrical representation.
Who This Book Is For
This book is aimed at students and scholars in performance studies, anthropology, cultural studies, theatre, and sociology. It will also appeal to readers with a general interest in the relationship between culture, ritual, and human behavior. The work is theoretically dense but accessible to those with some background in the humanities and social sciences. It requires a willingness to engage with complex ideas about performance as a fundamental aspect of human existence.
Further Reading
- Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure: A foundational text in the anthropology of ritual, providing a framework for understanding the transformative power of performance.
- Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life: A classic sociological study of how individuals manage impressions and construct identities through their interactions.
- Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures: A seminal work in symbolic anthropology, emphasizing the importance of understanding cultural practices as meaningful systems of symbols.
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