Anthropology of Performance

The Pyramid Texts of Amenirdis I: Selection and Layout

by Mariam Ayad

Published in JARCE 43 (2007): 71-92

Although long recognized to include selections from the Pyramid Texts, not since their original publication in 1901... more Although long recognized to include selections from the Pyramid Texts, not since their original publication in 1901 have the texts inscribed on the walls of the funerary chapel of Amenirdis I been adequately examined. Work on the funerary texts of Amenirdis has revealed her selections from the Pyramid Texts to be both unique and concise. Moreover, these thoughtfully chosen texts were meticulously laid out along the various walls of her funerary chapel such that their physical placement complemented their textual content. The texts, which are arranged along a North-South axis, include several allusions and references to elements of the Egyptian cosmos. Such references indicate that the South Wall represented the Duat, while the texts inscribed on, or close to, the North Wall included references to northern entities. Texts inscribed closest to the doorway equipped Amenirdis for her ascension to the sky. This paper relates the content of Amenirdis’s selections from the Pyramid Texts to their physical placement along the walls of her funerary chapel and argues that the particular arrangement of the texts was intended to guide Amenirdis out of her funerary chapel and to lead her toward the North sky.

[review]: 'On Directing and Dramaturgy: Burning the House' by Eugenio Barba

by Sam Bicknell

in Contemporary Theatre Review 20 (4), pp. 487-8

Activism in the times of Impasse

by Larisa Kurtovic

Kurtovic, Larisa. 2012. Activism in the Times of Impasse. APLA Section News. Anthropology News 53: 5. p 28.

Un'antropologa nel backstage

by Cristina Balma Tivola

2008, unprinted, licensed under CC3.0.

An eploration of my seven years fieldwork among a cross-cultural theatre company for my PhD dissertation in... more An eploration of my seven years fieldwork among a cross-cultural theatre company for my PhD dissertation in Anthropology of Contemporary World and Performance Studies - developing my personal approach to research, data gathering and their interpretation.

A Cultural History of the Chinese Language

by Sharron Gu

This book has been released last week. You can order it directly from the publisher, McFarland Publishers 800-253-2187, Barnes and Nobles, or Amazon.com.

It is the first multimedia history of the Chinese language and also the first book that compares the history of... more It is the first multimedia history of the Chinese language and also the first book that compares the history of Chinese with Greek, Latin, English and Semitic languages

Performance, Art and Anthropology

by Caroline Gatt

Piercing distinctions: making and remaking the social contract in the Northwest Amazon

by Janet Chernela

"Ney-Zen Evren Metroda" (Ney-Zen Evren, the Subway Musician) Istanbul Kent Kültürü Dergisi (Istanbul Journal of Urban Culture) No: 62, s./p. 59

by Volkan Aytar

"Ney-Zen Evren Metroda" (Ney-Zen Evren, the Subway Musician) Istanbul Kent Kültürü Dergisi (Istanbul Journal of Urban Culture) No: 62, s./p. 69 - Published part of Istanbul Journal of Culture's special issue on "Entertainment in Istanbul" this article discussed the story of an Istanbul subway musician who tries to combine Sufi and Zen traditions in his performance.

Published part of Istanbul Journal of Culture's special issue on "Entertainment in Istanbul" this article... more Published part of Istanbul Journal of Culture's special issue on "Entertainment in Istanbul" this article discussed the story of an Istanbul subway musician who tries to combine Sufi and Zen traditions in his performance.

"Aboriginal dances were always in rings..." Music and dance as a sign of identity in the Argentine Chaco",

by Silvia Citro

Co-authored with Adriana Cerletti

Archäologie der Menschenmenge. Platzanlage, Bildwerke und Fest im Syro-Hethitischen Stadtgefüge.

by Alessandra Gilibert

Pre-publication. Forthcoming 2012 in: O. Dalley – S. Moraw – H. Ziemmsen, "Bild – Raum – Handlung: Perspektiven der Archäologie",
Topoi / Berlin Studies of the Ancient World, Berlin: De Gruyter.

Nach dem Ende des hethitischen Großreiches um 1200 v. Chr. bildet sich im syro-anatolischen Raum ein Netzwerk von... more Nach dem Ende des hethitischen Großreiches um 1200 v. Chr. bildet sich im syro-anatolischen Raum ein Netzwerk von florierenden Stadtstaaten. In den Stadtgefügen dieser Zentren nehmen neu angelegten, breiten Platzanlagen eine wichtige Rolle ein. Durch monumentale Tore erreichbar und mit Bildwerke in eindrucksvoller Weise gestaltet, die neuen Plätze bilden das zeremonielle Zentrum der Stadt. Sie sind nicht einfach frei gelassenen Fläche, sondern komplex konstruierten Außenräume. Die These dieses Beitrages ist, dass die syro-hethitischen Plätze als theatralischen Räumen für breitangelegten Festen für den gesamten Stadtbevölkerung konzipiert wurden. Dabei waren die zahlreiche Bildwerke, zum Teil aktiv in Performanzen eingebettet, einen zentralen Element der choreographische Gestaltung.

Aesthetics and meaning in professional blues performances: an ethnographic examination of an African-American music in intercultural context

by Susan Oehler Herrick

Ph.D. dissertation by Susan E. Oehler, Indiana University-Bloomington, Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, 2001.

Note: I published as Susan E. Oehler through 2009.

2008: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors Attempts to Enter the Profession

by Paul Moore

‘Being There: After-Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies’

1. “Vidi e conobbi l’ombra”: incontro con l’Altro e dialogicità all’Inferno

by Valentina Atturo

published in «Critica del testo» VIII/1 (2005), pp. 363-387.

This article identifies the typology of the scenes of recognition in the Inferno. From the poetic and gnoseological... more This article identifies the typology of the scenes of recognition in the Inferno. From the poetic and gnoseological viewpoint, the mechanisms of recognition are synaesthesic, as in the theatre. During the encounters between Dante and the damned, all the senses and gestures combine with dramatic dialogue, which is the mainstay of their relations in this situation. Memory, often revived by direct vision, seamlessly reinforces the aesthetic perception of the agens and the writing of the auctor. For Alighieri, the physical encounter with otherness is revealed to be a symbol and a spiritual expedient to revisit problematic junctures, and not only literary ones, in the Divine Comedy itself.

Ritual Dynamics of Torture. The Performance of Violence and Humiliation at the Abu Ghraib Prison

by Werner Binder

Published in: Margo Kitts, Bernd Schneidmüller, Gerald Schwedler, Eleni Tounta, Hermann Kulke und Uwe Skoda (eds.). State, Power, and Violence. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010, pp. 75-104.

A single document containing three published articles: (1) “Recovering European ritual bear hunts: A comparative study of Basque and Sardinian ursine carnival performances”; (2) “Evidence in Favor of the Palaeolithic Continuity Refugium Theory (PCRT): Hamalau and its linguistic and cultural relatives, Part 1”; (3) “Evidence in Favor of the Palaeolithic Continuity Refugium Theory (PCRT): Hamalau and its linguistic and cultural relatives, Part. 2.”

by Roslyn Frank

A document containing three papers in the series “Hunting the European Sky Bears”:

Frank, Roslyn M. 2008. “Recovering European ritual bear hunts: A comparative study of Basque and Sardinian ursine carnival performances.” Insula (Cagliari, Sardinia) 3: 41-97.

Frank, Roslyn M. 2008. "Evidence in Favor of the Palaeolithic Continuity Refugium Theory (PCRT): Hamalau and its linguistic and cultural relatives." Part 1. Insula (Cagliari, Sardinia) 4: 91-131.

Frank, Roslyn M. 2009. "Evidence in Favor of the Palaeolithic Continuity Refugium Theory (PCRT): Hamalau and its linguistic and cultural relatives." Part 2. Insula (Cagliari, Sardinia) 5: 89-133.

The fourth paper in this particular set of articles will appear shortly:

Frank, Roslyn M. 2011. “A tripartite study of ‘seventh son’ healers and Hamalau: The Basque salutariyua, the French marcou and Italian maramao.” Insula (Cagliari, Sardinia) 6. 40 pg. manuscript.

Hunting the European Sky Bears: German ‘Straw-bears’" and their Relatives as Transformers

by Roslyn Frank

Pre-publication draft of the following article:

Frank, Roslyn M. (2010). Hunting the European Sky Bears: German ‘Straw-bears’ and their Relatives as Transformers / Die Jagd auf die europäischen Himmelsbären Deutsche ‘Strohbären’ und ihre Verwandten als Verwandler. In Michael and Barbara Rappenglück (eds.), Symbole der Wandlung - Wandel der Symbole. Proceedings of the Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Symbolforschung / Society for the Scientific Study of Symbols. May 21-23, 2004, Kassel, Germany, pp. 141-166. Munich.

The origins of the Germanic “Straw-bears” have been subject to speculation for years. In this study the Straw-bears... more The origins of the Germanic “Straw-bears” have been subject to speculation for years. In this study the Straw-bears will be contextualized along with their European relatives so that their meaning can be better appreciated within a larger framework of European ritual belief and social practice. The cosmogony in question is grounded in the belief that humans descended from bears, a belief that continued into the 20th century among Basque-speakers. The transformative aspects of the Straw-bear performances will be examined in relation to “Good-Luck Visits”, a type of performance aimed at bringing good health and prosperity to the houses visited and in which Straw-bears and their relatives have played a major role.

“Narratives and Counter-Narratives of 'Nativeness' in Tourism: Re-claiming Place at Híwus Feasthouse.”

by Linda Scarangella McNenly

Scarangella (2004). Anthropology in Action: Journal for Applied Anthropology in Policy and Practice 11(2/3): 9-21

Figure Skating and the Anthropology of Dance: The Case of Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin

by Andree Grau

(2010) Anthropological Notebooks 16(3), 39−59

In this paper, I address a number of topics relevant to anthropology generally and to the anthropology of dance... more In this paper, I address a number of topics relevant to anthropology generally and to the anthropology of dance specifically. I consider issues of classification and taxonomies; of interculturalism and transnationalism; of representation, exoticisation and internalised racism. I examine dance, hierarchies and discrimination, and discuss boundaries between dance and non-dance. For example, dance scholars, with a few exceptions, rarely write about figure skating, although it is cognate to Western theatre dance genres, especially ballet. Figure skating is sport, even in its ice dancing incarnation, whilst dance is art even in its ballet competition incarnations. I use as a case study the Russian skaters Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who choreographed an ‘Australian Aboriginal Dance’ for their original routine for the 2010 European skating championships and Olympics. This offended Aboriginal elders who made a complaint to the Russian ambassador. I examine the controversy around the routine, how it was reported in the press and how the audience responded in Internet forums, focusing especially on the way Australian Aborigines continue
to be portrayed as stone age in popular media.

Dance, anthropology, and research through practice

by Andree Grau

Paper presented at Re-Thinking Practice and Theory/Repenser Pratique et Théorie, A joint conference sponsored by the Congress on Research in Dance and the Society of Dance History Scholars, held at Le Centre National de la Danse June 21-24, 2007

Political Activism and South Asian Dance: The Case of Mallika Sarabhai

by Andree Grau

(Feb 2007) South Asia Research, 27, 43 - 55.

The article examines the work of the Indian dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai. It situates her in her socio-economic... more The article examines the work of the Indian dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai. It situates her in her socio-economic background as a representative of an influential  family, which set up the Darpana Academy for Performing Arts, an institute built on the Nehruvian philosophy of modernity. It presents her vision of what makes a  politically engaged feminist artist, looking at the inspiration for her works as well as the kind of movement vocabulary she chooses for her choreographies. It  specifically addresses the issue of her position during a period in India which saw the rise of Hindutva (‘Hinduness’) and an  escalation of violence against Muslims in the state of Gujarat, showing how her political engagement led to government harassment and loss of sponsorship to her institution.