Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture

by Philip Auslander

Performance in a Mediatized Culture addresses what may be the single most important question facing all kinds of performance today. What is the status of live performance in a culture dominated by mass media and digital technologies?

Since its first appearance, Philip Auslander’s groundbreaking book has helped to reconfigure a new area of study. Looking at specific instances of live performance such as theatre, music, sport, and courtroom testimony, Liveness offers penetrating insights into media culture, suggesting that media technology has encroached on live events to the point where many are hardly live at all. In this new edition, the author thoroughly updates his provocative argument to take into account the impact of the internet, and cultural, social, and legal developments. He also addresses the situation of live performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In tackling some of the last great shibboleths surrounding the high cultural status of the live event, this classic book will continue to shape opinion and to provoke lively debate on a crucial artistic what is live performance and what can it mean to us now?

This extensively revised, new edition of Liveness is an essential read for all students and scholars of performance-based courses.

Genres: Theatre, Nonfiction, Theory, Cultural Studies, Music, Philosophy, Academic

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Philip Cherny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, somewhat provocative, but quite frankly I found its writing organization and explanation-style a bit stilted. He didn't have to elaborate in detail on many of his examples. I could have scanned through most of the book and still get the general point. Though I found his arguments somewhat compelling, I think he could have done a much better job explaining them. He would beat around the bush for pages before he finally made his case. And other ideas needed more thoughtful explanation, like his disingenuous assumption that we know what he means by "representation," when so many Poststructural theorists have debunked this whole contradictory notion of re-presence. He does vaguely come to this conclusion that our notion of "liveness" as "that which cannot be represented" is problematic, but he only does so indirectly. On a positive note, I did enjoy his clever integration of thinkers like Baudrillard, Benjamin, and Derrida into his arguments. It introduces new ways to look at their theories in terms of performance, though I would personally rather just stick with the philosophers' writings themselves. In short, I think this book would have been more successful as a long essay.

[Elliot · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy is a twat.

[David Blanar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly thought-provoking, there's so much here that demands consideration. It's a shame there's a gaping void in the central argument which fails to anticipate virtual performance but that doesn't diminish the force of the writing.

[Samantha Ruth Lai]

read this for an essay that i had to write for school.... did i read the entire thing no i did not but i am gonna count it bc it was a tough mod and i need some wins HAHAH

[Annie B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes this is for school but it took me forever to read so the least I can do is get some goodreads credit okay

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

not sure if I should bother re-reading this. A book about liveness that is written just pre-internet and talks about performance without any mention of online performance. It's just not that useful. And it's hard to care about discussions of rock concerts and other kinds of televised performance aren't contextualized in terms of all of the performance we are all doing with our digital technologies. I had high hopes.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting critique of the line between live performance and mediatized, aka performance on televison or screen.

[Bean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tool.