4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

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ethology and theater
suddenly removed. The sound of laughter is triumphantly,
celebratorily, aggressive.
All human theater is created by processes analogous to dream-work/
joke-work. Dream-work/joke-work, in turn, are versions of redirected
activities and displacement. Thus human theater arises precisely where
animal rituals do and serve analogous needs. These performances are
liminal events existing to mediate or explore for pleasure interactions that are
potentially risky and disruptive. Where transitions/transformations are dangerous
what Van Gennep calls “rites of passage” are invented; where
trouble is liable to break out, theatrical fun eases the way.
CONCLUSIONS
Scientists have long been prejudiced in favor of mathematical and verbal
languages. But semiotics reveals many different kinds of language –
kinesic, visual, spatial, sonic, etc. Symbol-making often involves
transformation of the body, and the spaces around it, into full fields of
communication. And transformation, not conflict, is the root of theater.
When Mike displayed with the kerosene cans he was transforming
them. When Robert de Niro plays Jake La Motta in Raging Bull he is
transforming himself.
Many animals, including humans, employ disguises; prepare special
places for habitation, mating, and ritual combat; drum, dance, and
sing; display spectacular manes, plumages, antlers, etc. Some, like fiddler
crabs, even appropriate other animals’ bodies. Humans imitate
whatever they see: a shaman puts on a bear’s skin, a woman wears a hat
with feathers, a singer whistles like a bird. Non-human animals can’t
imitate so freely. Although a few species specialize in “deceit,” most
animal performances are automatically released, fixed, and stereotyped.
There is no irony, no pliable back-and-forth play between the role and
the performer, no trilogical interaction linking performer to performer
to spectator. Even among non-human primates and dolphins – the
most intelligent and playful of animals – performances lack the kind of
intricate mimetic fantasy-loving free-play we expect from our own
species. And in all animal performances to lose is to lose, while among
humans to lose is often to win: theatrical careers are built by the skill
with which roles are played, not by the events of the story. No one