JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES, A PLACE FOR DEBATE BETWEEN THEATER, DANCE AND PERFORMANCE (FRANCE, UK, NORTH AMERICA), 1950-2020
A one-day symposium to be held on Monday, November 25, 2024 at Maison de la Recherche, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France and Online.
as part of the RELIRE project (Reconnecting Practices, Discourses and Histories of Theatre and Performance Art – 1950-2020) in collaboration with the GRIRT (Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire sur les Revues de Théâtre, https://iret.fr/fr/les-revues-de-theatre-grirt/). The RELIRE project aims to write or rewrite the history and genealogies of performative scenic objects – often named with hybrid formulas such as “post-dramatic theater”, “performance dance”, “interartistic performances”, “stage performances” or just “performances” – which are often paralleled with the more general term of performance art which tends to erase its richness and diversity. By choosing to consider these practices in a historical perspective, the aim is to understand the bonds and the mutual influences between the different protagonists who contributed to the birth of these scenic genres while questioning the anti-theatrical discourse that generally came with its emergence, in order to reconsider and renew its historiographical and genealogical understanding. This reflection belongs to an attempt of cross historiographies between theater, dance and performance art. Amidst the protagonists of the birth and spreading of this concept of “performance” in the theater field, journals such as Théâtre/Public, Performance Magazine, TDR/ The Drama Review or Mouvement play a major role: due to their materiality, the conditions in which they emerged and how they were published, and their relationship to spaces, structures, institutions, historiographical and ideological debates within a time frame, they become a very precious object to be studied in order to comprehend the history of mutual influences between theater and performance art. Hence a more in-depth knowledge of the first instance of the word “performance” and the evolution of its use in different French, English, American journals dedicated to theater and dance are necessary to draw its outlines – just like its counterpart the knowledge of the use of the word “theater” in journals dedicated to visual arts, performance art or art history such as Avalanche, High Performance or arTitudes. On an indicative basis, communications may be the following: - Monographic study on the appearance and evolution of the term “performance” in a specific journal ;- Historical overview of the birth of new specialized journals on performance as new spaces for research and creation- Study of the use of the terms “theater” and “theatricality” in an art history or performance journal;- Thoughts on the circulation of concepts between journals, through questions of collaborations, reuse, influences or translations;- Study of the role of “transmitter” and the impact of the critic in the emergence and dissemination of performance, the critic can sometimes be considered as “ally” or “affiliated” with specific artists;- Analysis of friction between different terms such as “performance”; “post dramatic theater”; “performance dance”; “performative theater”: “body art”; “live art”; “living arts”; “events”; “Happenings”; “Public Actions”; “theatrical actions”, etc. within the journals;- Study of the appearance and use of these concepts in journals devoted not only to theater, but also to dance, puppetry, circus or the visual arts;- Reflection on the impact of geographical origins in the discourse on performance between France, Great Britain and North America;- Study of the presentation and critical reception of performances in journals linked to venues or international festivals such as the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Sigma, the Festival d’Automne, etc. Application process:Proposals of a maximum of 300 words, in French or English, accompanied by a short bibliography and a brief bio-bibliographic notice, must be sent before September 6th 2024 to the following address: revues.relire@gmail.com
It will be possible to participate through videoconference from outside of France.
Responses will be sent by September 27th.
Scientific committee : Bénédicte Boisson (Université Rennes 2, APP, Thalim) ; Marco Consolini (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, IRET, GRIRT) ; Laure Fernandez (chercheuse associée Thalim) ; Nicolas Fourgeaud (Haute École des Arts du Rhin) ; Ophélie Landrin ; Samuel Lhuillery ; Sylvie Mokhtari (Archives de la critique d'art) ; Romain Piana (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, IRET, GRIRT) ; Noémie Solomon (Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance). References :G. Allen, Artist’s Magazine. An Alternative Space for Art, Cambridge/London, The MIT Press, 2011.C. Chaory (dir.), Repères, cahier de danse, n° 37 : « Quelle revue pour la danse en 2016 ? », La Briqueterie / CDCN du Val-de-Marne, 2016.M. Consolini, Théâtre Populaire, 1953-1964. Histoire d’une revue engagée, Paris, Editions de l’IMEC, 1999.M. Consolini, R. Piana, « Scènes de papier : des journaux qui se théâtralisent et des théâtres qui se transforment en revues », Revue d’historiographie du théâtre, n°2, « Scènes de papier. Les images dans les revues de théâtre (XIXe-XXe siècles) », juillet 2015. https://sht.asso.fr/scenes-de-papier/M. Consolini, M. Denizot, P. Goetschel (dir.), European Drama and Performance Studies, Hors-série : « La décentralisation théâtrale en revues », Classiques Garnier, Paris, 2021.R. Froissart Pezone, Y. Chevrefils Desbiolles (dir.), Les revues d'art : formes, stratégies et réseaux au XXème siècle, Presses Universitaires de Rennes, Rennes, 2011.M. Gherghescu, L. Gueye-Parmentier, S. Rivoire et D. Schulmann, La Fabrique de l’histoire de l’art, 200 revues 1903-1969, Editions textuelles, 2020.C. Guerrier, Presse écrite et danse contemporaine, Édition Chiron, Paris, 1997.T. Gusman, « Between Evidence and Representation: A New Methodological Approach to the History of Performance Art and Its Documentation », Contemporary Theatre Review, vol. 29, n°4, 2019, p. 439-461.
S. Mokhtari, Avalanche, arTitudes, Interfunktionen, 1968-1977 : trois trajectoires critiques au cœur des revues, thèse de doctorat en Histoire de l’art, sous la direction de J.-M. Poinsot, Université Rennes 2, 2000.M. Pelissero, De l'underground à la performance : L'avant-garde contre le théâtre (1963-1973), Classiques Garnier, Paris, 2023.