Meets with CMCL C502.  Above section meets at 501 N. Park.  This
course is an introduction to performance-oriented perspectives on
communication and culture. We will begin with a historical
consideration of the epistemology of performance in Western thought,
and then proceed to an extended examination of the two principal
senses of performance: performance as a special, artistic mode of
communication, and performance as a class of display events. Three
problems will be the focus of special attention in our
deliberations:  (1) the relationships between the two orders of
performance, (2) the continuities and discontinuities between these
two orders of performance and other dimensions of communicative
practice in social life, and (3) the relationship between
conventionalization and creativity in performance. We will balance
our attention between the exploration of theoretical and analytical
perspectives on the one hand and case-study examination of specific
performance forms on the other.

Bauman, Richard. 1977. Verbal Art as Performance. Prospect Heights,
IL: Waveland  Press.
Sawyer, R. Keith, ed. 1997. Creativity in Performance. Greenwich, CT:
Ablex.
Turner, Victor. 1986. The Anthropology of Performance. New York: PAJ
Publications.
Winn, James Anderson. 1998. The Pale of Words: Reflections on the
Humanities and Performance. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Anthology of readings, available at TIS.

A seminar paper of ca. 25 pp. in length, to be developed through
briefer written statements and seminar presentations over the course
of the semester.