The Anthropology of Performance: A Reader

This cutting–edge volume on the major advancements in performance studies presents the theories, methods, and practices of performance in cultures around the globe. Prominent anthropologists outline the scope of performance studies across anthropology, folklore, art and religious studies, providing an invaluable guide in this exciting and growing area. The anthology focuses on the way in which performances, broadly construed as acting aesthetically on or off stage, figure in the anthropological study of culture. Drawing on a wide range of phenomena, and employing fascinating case studies, the volume successfully demonstrates how human beings communicate with one another – both verbally and non–verbally – through the use of stylized or expressive behavior. The Anthropology of Performance has been accessibly arranged into a number of thematic sets, and structured in a way that introduces new and advanced students to the task of studying and interpreting complex social, cultural, and political events from a performance perspective. It begins with a valuable theoretical introduction by the editor which contextualizes and frames the subsequent chapters. It is an indispensable volume in this interdisciplinary field for anthropologists, folklorists, sociologists, theatre studies specialists, and the interested general reader.

Acknowledgments to Sources vii The Anthropology of Performance: An Introduction 1 Frank J. Korom Part I Performance in Prehistory and Antiquity 9 1 Singing the Rug: Patterned Textiles and the Origins of Indo–European Metrical Poetry 11 Anthony Tuck 2 Performance and Written Literature in Classical Greece: Envisaging Performance from Written Literature and Comparative Contexts 26 Rosalind Thomas Part II Verbal Genres of Performance 37 3 Playing the Dozens 39 Roger D. Abrahams 4 The La Have Island General Store: Sociability and Verbal Art in a Nova Scotia Community 49 Richard Bauman 5 Proverbs and the Ethnography of Speaking Folklore 61 E. Ojo Arewa and Alan Dundes 6 Gbaya Riddles in Changing Times 73 Philip A. Noss 7 Shadows of Song: Exploring Research and Performance Strategies in Yolngu Women’s Crying–Songs 80 Fiona Magowan Part III Ritual, Drama, and Public Spectacle 95 8 Prayer as Person: The Performative Force in Navajo Prayer Acts 97 Sam D. Gill 9 Performance and the Cultural Construction of Reality 107 Edward L. Schieffelin 10 “He Should Have Worn a Sari”: A “Failed” Performance of a Central Indian Oral Epic 124 Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger 11 Representing History: Performing the Columbian Exposition 133 Rosemarie K. Bank 12 The Palio of Siena: Performance and Process 150 Alice Pomponio Logan Part IV Performance and Politics in the Making of Communities 165 13 Poetry and Politics in a Transylvanian Village 167 Gail Kligman 14 The Matter of Talk: Political Performances in Bhatgaon 174 Donald Brenneis 15 Celebrating Cricket: The Symbolic Construction of Caribbean Politics 183 Frank E. Manning 16 Performing the Nation: China’s Children as Little Red Pioneers 199 T.E. Woronov Part V Tourist Performances and the Global Ecumene 215 17 The Promise of Sonic Translation: Performing the Festive Sacred in Morocco 217 Deborah A. Kapchan 18 Ethnic Tourism in Hokkaidoˆ and the Shaping of Ainu Identity 234 Lisa Hiwasaki 19 What They Came With: Carnival and the Persistence of African Performance Aesthetics in the Diaspora 250 Esiaba Irobi 20 Global Breakdancing and the Intercultural Body 260 Halifu Osumare Further Readings 273 Index 287

Frank J. Korom is Professor of Religion and Anthropology at Boston University, where he teaches courses on verbal art, anthropology of religion, and cultures of South Asia. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in India, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, amongst other places. His interests range from ritual and performance studies to visual and material culture. His extensive publications include Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo–Caribbean Diaspora (2003) and Village of Painters: Narrative Scrolls from West Bengal (2006).