Dell Hymes: Universal Definition Of Performance?
Nazira Abibullakyzy
#ANT 306: Anthropology of Performance
Essay 1, Question choice №2
October 22, 2014
IS THERE SINGLE UNIVERSAL DEFINTION OF PERFORMANCE?
There have been many scholars defining the word “performance” relying on their field of study or interest. Performance as a subject of study has attracted massive attention due to its communicative nature, helpful in studying humans as social beings. Various explanations of the term performance have contributed to the emergence of performance as an interdisciplinary concept, which draws upon the theories from sociology, psychology, and anthropology. Thus, the term has a broad meaning, starting from speeches in daily life conversation continuing with the artistic performances in theatres and
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In his paper “Breakthrough into the Performance”, Dell Hymes suggested that “one might even hope that folklore would take the lead in showing how appreciation and interpretation of performances as unique events can be united with analysis of the underlying rules and regulations which make performance possible and intelligible.” Here, Hymes regards performance as an “artful accomplishment”, instead of regarding it as a “flawed representation of the ideal structure”.1 Bauman developed his idea claiming that “performance as a mode of spoken verbal communication consists in the assumption of responsibility to an audience for a display of communicative competence”. Combining both scholars’ works, performance can be defined as an artful communication which places responsibility towards the …show more content…
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