In this paper, George P. Pefanis discusses the presence of animals on stage from the perspective ... more In this paper, George P. Pefanis discusses the presence of animals on stage from the perspective of French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Baudrillard examines animality in relation to reason and the division between humans and non-humans. He presents four broad categories based on their relationship to humans. This article analyses the Baudrillardian concept of 'somatisation', which includes both the corporeality and physical vulnerability of animals, as well as certain psychic traits. The article explores the sentimentality projected onto animals and the implied superiority of humans in such sentimentality. Additionally, it enquires how the principles of 'love for animals' can be integrated into a performance featuring animals on stage from an ethical and ontological perspective. To support this discussion, the paper examines two examples of performances: 'Embracing Animal' by American artist Kathy High and 'The Other' by American artist Rachel Rosenthal.
Three major thinkers of theatre, Erving Goffman, Marvin Carlson and Bruce Wilshire, admit that th... more Three major thinkers of theatre, Erving Goffman, Marvin Carlson and Bruce Wilshire, admit that theatre is an essential and central metaphor for life. Nevertheless, the two main questions of their discussion are, on the one hand, the existence of a range of moral criteria and values that differentiates the two worlds and, on the other, the possibility of defining the threshold between theatre and life.
Is the ‘Animal-Event’ Possible? Animal Precariousness and Moral Indeterminacy in Performance
New Theatre Quarterly, 2018
In this article, George P. Pefanis discusses two major aspects of the ‘event’, as formed and deve... more In this article, George P. Pefanis discusses two major aspects of the ‘event’, as formed and developed in late Derridean philosophy – namely, the ‘possibility of the impossible’ and the ‘experience of perhaps’. These aspects are examined in order to reveal the potential for precariousness and uncertainty engendered by performance art, as in the case of the animal-event. With its increased degree of indeterminacy and its projected singular, here-and-now character, performance art could leave open the way to the ‘other’, the unpredictable, and the unexpected that is the ‘animal-event’, since an animal can never be fully controlled or have its behaviour predicted by the theatre mechanism. Two performances are taken as case studies to demonstrate this: the emblematic I Like America and America Likes Me by Joseph Beuys (René Block Gallery, New York, 1974), and Dragon Heads by Marina Abramović (Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1990). It is argued that both cases pose certain moral issues aro...
The street releases an aura of hospitality unmatched by the great halls and the formal venues. Th... more The street releases an aura of hospitality unmatched by the great halls and the formal venues. This is so because the street belongs to the people—it is of itself the stage of hospitality. By "hospitable," here, I mean, on the one hand, a site open and accessible to all, and even to roaming artists, and on the other, I mean something that befriends the strange, the unfamiliar, the unexpected; what you meet suddenly on the curve of a pedestrian walkway or at the edge of a square and at once you are distracted from dailyexistential cares and daily routines. While people were gathering without any clear objectives, besides demonstrating against the austerity measures of the economic crisis, the International Street Theatre Festival (Istfest) of Athens organized at that time, came to provide them with a significant "role": their participation in a multi-faceted theatrical celebration, with strong political connotations. In more ways than one, the street, (in the broa...
Citer cet article Pefanis, G. P. (2010). Le théâtre grec contemporain à la croisée des chemins. L... more Citer cet article Pefanis, G. P. (2010). Le théâtre grec contemporain à la croisée des chemins. L’Annuaire théâtral, (48), 9–12. https:// doi.org/10.7202/1007835ar Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. [https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/]
Philosophie du théâtre / les scènes de la philosophie - Esquisse d’une relation multidimensionnelle
Cet article décrit le domaine qui s'étend entre ce qu'on pourrait appeler la théâ... more Cet article décrit le domaine qui s'étend entre ce qu'on pourrait appeler la théâtrophilosophie (l'étude de la philosophie à travers le théâtre) et la philosophie du théâtre (l'étude du théâtre à travers la philosophie). Il permet d'esquisser certains champs à travers lesquels sont cultivés la recherche des intersections entre le théâtre et la philosophie : les études sur l'esthétique, les notions philosophiques sur le théâtre, le caractère événementiel de la représentation comme scènes théâtrales. This article describes the area which stretches between what could be called théâtrophilosophie (the study of philosophy by way of theatre) and the philosophy of theatre (the study of theatre by way of philosophy). It enables us to sketch out certain areas of research into the intersections between theatre and philosophy: the study of aesthetics; philosophical notions of theatre; and the singular, one-off nature of the stage performance.
Archive, Repertory, Supplement: Thinking Theatre through Intersections
This article discusses the relationship between drama and performance, using the Derridean concep... more This article discusses the relationship between drama and performance, using the Derridean concept of ‘supplement’ in theatre, which exceeds polarities and attempts a more dialectic approach. A review of Marvin Carlson’s theories of illustration, separation, translation, and fulfilment is a starting point for a comprehensive analysis of the views that encourage the binary drama-performance. This is examined in combination with Diane Taylor’s distinction between the ‘archive’, which preserves and bears all the written culture, and the ‘repertory’, which contains the world of performance. The ‘supplement’ holds two meanings: as a supplement, an external addition-to, and as a complement, a supplement-of, that comes in to fill a gap. One example is used to present the relationship between archive, repertory, and supplement: Brecht’s The Downfall of the Egotist Johann Fatzer. Theatre can be thought of in formations of heteropoietic sequence, through chains of supplements, including the t...
La critique de theâtre aujourd’hui pourrait etre convertie a un discours polyvalent qui questionn... more La critique de theâtre aujourd’hui pourrait etre convertie a un discours polyvalent qui questionne les evenements theâtraux en tirant des experiences, des significations et formes mentales des champs cognitifs adjacents. L’elargissement du canon theâtral, sa readaptation aux nouvelles donnees culturelles, la reconstitution de la forme theâtrale a l’aide de materiaux hybrides et la decentralisation plurielle de l’acte de representation, ainsi que l’autonomisation des arts dans les processus sceniques sont quelques uns des facteurs les plus importants qui differencient en grande partie, non seulement les representations elles-memes, mais egalement la perception qu’en a le spectateur specialiste. La critique de theâtre en Grece contemporaine a certains egards etait, jusqu’ a tres recemment, peu etudiee aux universites comme aux cercles des intellectuels. Ce fut la raison pour laquelle elle peut se caracteriser, soit enfermee dans de vieilles postures acquises par le passe, de maniere e...
La performance du repas et de la mort chez Rodrigo García et Vassilis Ziogas Scenes of Meal: The ... more La performance du repas et de la mort chez Rodrigo García et Vassilis Ziogas Scenes of Meal: The Performance of Food in Rodrigo Garcia and Vassilis Ziogas Το τραπέζι και η σκηνή. Η επιτέλεση του φαγητού και του θανάτου στον Rodrigo García και στον Βασίλη Ζιώγα Georges P. Pefanis Dans cet essai je voudrais rapprocher certaines pièces de Rodrigo García et Vassilis Ziogas, afin d'examiner la possibilité d'un passage caché entre βρώσης (manger) et διάβρωσης (éroder), d'une liaison latente qui nous permettra de passer de la notion du βρωτός (mangeable) à celle du βροτός (mortel) et associer le repas au mort sur la scène. Nous devons accepter d'abord avec Jean-Pierre Poulain le fait que « l'aliment n'est pas un produit de consommation banal, il s'incorpore. Il entre dans le corps du mangeur, devient le mangeur lui-même, participant physiquement et symboliquement au maintien de son intégrité et à la construction de son identité » (2013, 39). Dans le cas du repas, l'incorporation est prise au pied de la lettre. Ensuite, et c'est le point crucial de notre approche, tandis que manger est une action humaine fondamentale, inextricablement entrelacée avec la vie, elle est en même temps un jeu avec la mort au fur et à mesure que la vie et la santé du sujet mangeur sont en jeu chaque fois que la décision d'incorporation est prise (FISCHLER, 2001, 69). Les scènes de Rodrigo García Dans le théâtre de Rodrigo García, la nourriture et la boisson deviennent le champ privilégié de la critique déconstructive des démocraties occidentales. Même si lui-même prétend ne pas faire de politique, mais du théâtre, même s'il se fixe comme principal objectif d'inventer des formes et des formats sur la scène (TACKELS, 2009, 90), l'alimentation, qui constitue la base de son langage scénique dans beaucoup de ses oeuvres, est à elle seule une question hautement politique, si l'on prend en considération Scènes et repas Cahiers balkaniques, Hors-série | 2016
Is the animal event possible? Animal precariousness and moral indeterminacy in performance
New Theatre Quarterly, 2018
In this article, George P. Pefanis discusses two major aspects of the ‘event’, as formed and deve... more In this article, George P. Pefanis discusses two major aspects of the ‘event’, as formed and developed in late Derridean philosophy – namely, the ‘possibility of the impossible’ and the ‘experience of perhaps’. These aspects are examined in order to reveal the potential for precariousness and uncertainty engendered by performance art, as in the case of the animal-event. With its increased degree of indeterminacy and its projected singular, here-and-now character, performance art could leave open the way to the ‘other’, the unpredictable, and the unexpected that is the ‘animal-event’, since an animal can never be fully controlled or have its behaviour predicted by the theatre mechanism. Two performances are taken as case studies to demonstrate this: the emblematic I Like America and America Likes Me by Joseph Beuys (René Block Gallery, New York, 1974), and Dragon Heads by Marina Abramović (Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1990). It is argued that both cases pose certain moral issues aro...
Three major thinkers of theatre, Erving Goffman, Marvin Carlson and Bruce Wilshire, admit that th... more Three major thinkers of theatre, Erving Goffman, Marvin Carlson and Bruce Wilshire, admit that theatre is an essential and central metaphor for life. Nevertheless, the two main questions of their discussion are, on the one hand, the existence of a range of moral criteria and values that differentiates the two worlds and, on the other, the possibility of defining the threshold between theatre and life.
George P. Pefanis - The Greek Emigrant Experience between 1945 and 1980 in the Plays of Petros Markaris and Loula Anagnostaki - Journal of Modern Greek Studies 25:2
L’histoire et l’analyse théorique constituent deux champs cognitifs distincts dans les études thé... more L’histoire et l’analyse théorique constituent deux champs cognitifs distincts dans les études théâtrales, lesquels néanmoins sont sectionnés dans de nombreux cas. En rapport avec l’histoire du théâtre, nous pouvons distinguer deux positions logiques. Conformément à la première, l’histoire enregistre et offre la matière première de chaque pensée secondaire sur les événements théâtraux. Ce qui est contesté souvent est le caractère « objectif » de la matière historique. Conformément à la deuxième position, l’histoire du théâtre n’est pas un ensemble évident d’événements, puisqu’elle ne peut pas reproduire le passé, mais elle offre un texte infini qui interprète le passé. Chaque discours historique contient une philosophie de l’histoire partiellement développée et souvent sous-entendue. La combinaison de ces positions nous offre toute la dynamique du discours historique et ouvre le dialogue avec les théories du théâtre.
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