Performing Feminisms: Feminist Critical Theory and Theatre

by Sue-Ellen Case (Editor)

Performing Feminisms is the first book to bring together theoretical works on the theater written from a feminist perspective. This pioneering work uses feminist critical theory, as it have been applied to fiction and the cinema, to explore dramatic tests and performances. In an introductory essay, Sue-Ellen case provides an overview of the intersection between feminist critical theory and theater in the 1980s. The contributors consider a wide range of themes and strategies—psychoanalytic theory, Lacanian criticism, socialist feminism, lesbianism, history, even the folk theory of Aunt Jemima. Among the contributors, Teresa de Lauretis examines sexual indifference and lesbian representation. Elin Diamond and Sharon Willis use Lacan to dismantle notions of identity. Glenda Dickerson explores womanist attitudes in African-American theater. Yvonne Yarbo-Bejarano discusses the female subject in Chicago theater. Judith Butler destabilizes gender identity in her analysis of the performative act. The writers consider differences across time—from Shakespeare to contemporary performance art—and across ethnic and class boundaries. The feminist critical practices of the 1980s present a challenge to women's studies and theater studies in the 1990s. Performing Feminisms introduces a relatively new field, one sure to provoke discussion in both disciplines.

Genres: Theatre, Criticism, Feminism

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a really good collection of foundational essays, which anyone looking to think about or work on/with feminist theatre (both terms broadly defined) should read. However, the collection came out in 1990, which makes it fairly old in terms of critical theory. I mean, the 1990s saw a major shift in how feminist and especially queer theorists conceptualize gender, largely through the work of Judith Butler and her theories of performativity (which, incidentally, have their roots in many of the ideas in this book; also the anthology includes Butler's essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution," which lays out much of what would find more thorough expression in Gender Trouble). Then there was another shift as people more or less stopped talking about performativity--or at least began talking as though performativity is an established fact. So while this book is a really important basis for feminist work on/with theatre, it isn't current enough to be sufficient in and of itself.

[Jennifer Padron · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew Professor Sue-Cllen case as a relatively inexperienced young playwright and screenwriter wannabe while in the School of Drama at University of Washington back in the day and found her pompous, a know-it-all, and arrogant. So is her book. Too bad.