Performing History

The Importance of Occasions

Bibliographic Data

ID5841741
AuthorsP Burke (0000-0002-2471-0141, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume9
Issue1
Pages35-52
Publication date2005-02-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRethinking History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1364-2529 • E-ISSN: 1470-1154
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1364252042000329241
OpenAlexW2021358393
LanguageEN
Citations received45
References cited50

This article identifies what it calls a 'performative turn' in historical studies, as in the humanities more generally. It traces the rise of the notion of performance out of the dramaturgical model of the 1940s and 1950s (associated with Kenneth Burke, Erving Goffman and Victor Turner), linking the new idea (developed by John Austin, for instance, and Pierre Bourdieu) to the rise of 'postmodernity'. Turning to historical studies, the article analyses the role played by the concept of performance in recent studies of ritual, festivals, identity, gender, and even emotions, architecture and knowledge, noting the shift from the assumption of social or cultural fixity to that of fluidity, from scripts to improvisations, from mentalities to the habitus. The new approach has generated problems, notably the over-reaction against the idea of social constraints, the danger of circularity and the over-extension of the central notion of performance. A stronger and a weaker sense of 'performance' need to be distinguished. Despite these problems, the performative approach has foregrounded important and neglected issues, notably that of differences between cultural or social domains. The article concludes by considering the methodological consequences of the approach, in particular its implications for source criticism and historical explanation. Keywords: OccasionPerformanceSituationHistorical methodDrama analogyTheatre model Acknowledgements The ideas presented here have been offered to the public on a number of occasions, most recently in 2003 at the University of Aarhus, at a seminar on 'Time' organized by Miri Rubin at the Institute of Historical Research and in a lecture to the Mansfield College History Society at the invitation of James Raven. My thanks to Miri and James and also to members of all these audiences for their constructive reactions. I should also like to thank the authors of dissertations who have encouraged me to mention their unpublished work

Dramaturgy · Habitus · Performative utterance · Postmodernity · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Theater, Performance, and Music History

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