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

8
MAGNITUDES OF
PERFORMANCE
A FIGURE FOR ALL GENRES
At the descriptive level there is no detail of performance occurring
everywhere under all circumstances. Nor is it easy to specify limitations
on what is, or could be treated as, performance. Figure 8.1 is an
exemplary but somewhat serendipitous panorama of just how diverse
and extensive the performance world is. Criteria for inclusion in the
chart were: 1) events called performances in this or that culture; 2)
events treated “as performance” by scholars. I limited myself as much
as possible to events that I have either seen or studied. I wanted to fight
the tendency to seek “origins” or “sources” in performances below the
horizons of field work or reliable historical research. I took my cue
from anthropological field work: the evidence I sought was in vivo,
ready at hand. I know that another person could make another time/
space/event chart populated by different items. But I believe the outcome
would be a similar riot of apparently disparate particulars. What
hope is there of unifying such a figure?
If “universals” are wanted, they might be found in processual
models explaining how one set of genres, ritual performances for
example, becomes other sets. Does ritual “evolve” into dance, theater,