Performativity

by James Loxley

Do our writings and our utterances reflect or describe our world, or do they intervene in it? Do they, perhaps, help to make it? If so, how? Within what limits, and with what implications? Contemporary theorists have considered the ways in which the languages we speak might be ‘performative’ in just this way, and their thinking on the topic has had an important impact on a broad range of academic disciplines.

In this accessible introduction to a sometimes complex field, James Loxley:

offers a concise and original account of critical debates around the idea of performativity
traces the history of the concept through the work of such influential theorists as J. L. Austin, John Searle, Stanley Fish, Jacques Derrida, Paul de Man and Judith Butler
examines the implications of performativity for fields such as literary and cultural theory, philosophy, performance studies, and the theory of gender and sexuality.
emphasises the political and ethical implications that its most important theorists have drawn from the notion of performativity
suggests ways in which major debates around the topic have obscured its alternative interpretations and uses.

For students trying to make sense of performativity and related concepts such as the speech act, ‘ordinary language’, and iterability, and for those seeking to understand the place of these ideas in contemporary performance theory, this clear guide will prove indispensable. Performativity offers not only a path through challenging critical terrain, but a new understanding of just what is at stake in the exploration of this field.

Genres: Philosophy, Theory

200 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2006

Reviews

[Victoria Hawco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished with more questions than answers (though I did get some answers) but I’m pretty sure that was the point anyway. Great read.

[Jonas Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic introduction to the development and the philandering of a term. From Austin’s formulation of perfomativity as a distinct function of the spoken, via Searle, Fish and Derrida to the meeting between the performative and performance and Butler’s influential usage of the term between these traditions in order to question the ontological. Loxley’s grasp is wide and wonderfully well informed. His examples and language adapt to the traditions he is describing, performing the very normative effect of the performative in his discussion of these traditions.

While concise and accessible, Loxley manages to keep this presentation both wide in grasp and engaging with the intricacies of the various traditions he deals with.

[Ira · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book is interesting and informative. The author defends his defense of Austin well. However, when it comes to Derrida, and then Butler, I could no longer take it seriously, but this probably reflects the fact that I struggle to take these authors seriously in the first place.