CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

BODY AND POWER IN THE PERFORMING ARTS

Theatre’s vital form of representation is the body - a statement that has become almost commonplace in recent studies. Starting with Anne Ubersfeld’s famous phrase, “Le théâtre est corps”, and going through the major experiences of the 20th century creators - Gordon Craig, Adolphe Appia, Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, Peter Brook, etc. - the notion of the body has become more and more frequently invoked from the perspective of power, be it ontological, ideological or artistic (of the director or the actor). Theater and power meet in the common experience of the stage given. Or, in other words, the stage represents the place of power, either of the one reflected by the artistic act, or, on the contrary, of the one in which creation gives up its aesthetic principles in favor of the rhetoric of ideology. Looking for its validation resources beyond itself, theater places the actor’s body in the field of experiences and in a network of asymmetrical relationships, which is not limited to the facticity of things and events, but opens paths that claim to return to the essence. There is, of course, also a phenomenological temptation to analyze the relationship between theater and power by deciphering the palimpsest of creation, from what emerges in the horizon of the stage, beyond conceptual presuppositions, beyond causal connections, in other words, from the simple perspective of an “event” that takes place in front of the spectators. It is a manifestation of theatre as being, from the perspective of consciousness and intentionality, which creators resort to in order to ennoble their stage work with truthfulness. Power – itself on the border between reality and fiction – cannot free itself from the conditionings of the relationship, even when the enactment of the theatrical experience reveals a predisposition for the poetic and/or the soliloquy. But to what extent the theater performance follows or opposes commandments of power? In what way is the aesthetics of the representation diverted by resorting to the manifest opposition or even to the rebelliousness? Is there still interest in the freedom of artistic expression in the context of the suspension of taboos and the leveling of the borders between the arts? What is the historical perspective of the relationship between theater and the various institutions of power? Can we speak of a conditioning of the evolution of artistic forms according to the machinery of power or its social constructs? These are just some of the questions that researchers, teachers, doctoral students and all those concerned with the stated theme are invited to answer.

We invite you to submit paper proposals by 05.01.2023, to the following addresses: tarekamine64@yahoo.com; tiberius.vasiniuc@theatre-research.ro; si_crisan@yahoo.com.

The proposals should include:

1. the author(s) of the article + a bio-bibliographic note;

2. the title of the paper;

3. summary in English, maximum 300-350 words;

4. 5 keywords;

5. institutional affiliation of the author/authors.

Confirmation of acceptance: 25.01.2023. Authors of papers accepted for publication will receive detailed information regarding the article editing template.

Deadline for submission of papers accepted for publication: 15.03.2023. The papers will be subject to the approval of the editorial board.

Deadline for sending the final version: 15.04.2023.

The publication of the special issue of the journal is scheduled for October 2023.

Writing languages: English and French.

Articles accepted for publication will appear in a special issue of The Theatre Research, a CEEOL-indexed journal published by Theatrical and Multimedia Research Institute, University of Arts of Târgu-Mureș.