call for papers--essay collection
Democratic Acts: The Theatricality of Politics in America
American politics draws upon an inherently dramatic sensibility, and
yet the nature of public performance produces anxiety about the
sincerity of democratic acts. Insofar as politics relies on a
theatrical artistry, 'dry' issues are imbued with a performative
energy. Debate, sometimes contained or disembodied by institution and
tradition, is revitalized and democratized in the carnivalesque
rhetoric and staging of campaign and rally. Dull politics is subsumed
in the utopic potential of public drama. On the other hand, the
artifice of political stagecraft produces suspicion about the
debasements of theatricality. The citizens of a democracy must
maintain constant vigilance against demagoguery and the excesses of
political passion. Caught in a double bind, we're never sure if we're
representing democratic ideals or simply representing democratic
ideals.
However, theories of 'performance' -- specifically concerned with the
materiality of sites, audiences, actors, and scenes -- suggest a new
set of questions for negotiating how we invest in and disavow our
political theatricality. Such a focus would sidestep simplistic
celebrations or condemnations of the performances of politics in order
to see how political acts -- as art and artifice -- reproduce, revise,
and sustain a democratic system. For example, how might an
examination of the drama of a political convention dramatize our
understanding of the conventionally political? In broader terms, how
could we analyze explicitly political events as dramatic occurrences
which fuse the symbolic rhetoric and institutionalized rituals which
produce the nation?
This essay collection will approach political performances throughout
American history using specific case studies. The range of potential
topics is broad and may include conventions, campaigns, parades,
marches, speeches, sit-ins, demonstrations, filibusters, press
conferences, fireside chats, whistle-stops, riots, legislative
proceedings, impeachments, inaugurations, strikes. In addition to
discussion of the symbolic resonance of such events, contributors
should pay attention to their material production. How is the
audience conceived and how has it received (and refigured) the
performance? How have the conventions of different media (pamphlet,
sermon, newspaper, oration, radio, television, internet) dramatically
altered our understanding of political tradition? How have groups
excluded from mainstream sites of political action used alternative
performances to demand a voice or vote?
Please send 2-3 page abstracts by December 1st, 1999 to Robert Sturr
at rsturr@stark.kent.edu or Kent State University, Stark Campus,
6000 Frank Avenue NW., Canton, Ohio 44720-7599. The editors (Mike
Reynolds and Robert Sturr) will advise of receipt immediately and
provide additional information to potential contributors as the
collection takes shape. Please contact us with any and all questions
regarding a proposed essay by e-mailing us at rsturr@stark.kent.edu
or mreynold@scf.usc.edu
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