Since the early 1990s, the concept of »performance« has become a chief concern of American cultural studies. Like no other term, »performance« stands for the instability of social, cultural, and individual identity. If the illusion of a stability of the old ideals of truth, reason and universality had dominated the hegemonic imagination before this paradigm change, performance theory cultivates a belief in the unreliability and inconsistency of cultural texts. Today, reality seems to be a colorful patchwork whose materiality has to be constituted anew time and time again. In postmodernity, the self seems to be deprived of any »essence«, functioning more and more as a »performative« entity which expresses itself through the body but lacks a stable core. The seminar will deal with the interdependences between these individual »performances« and the media in which they are located. Feature films, sitcoms and video clips will be discussed in the seminar along with documentaries, photography, and performance art. Among other artists, we will look at Madonna and Lady Gaga and their usage of »performance« in their clips and public appearances. Attention will also be paid to the Hollywood star cult (Marilyn Monroe and James Dean) and the attempts to create performative texts in film, literature, and television (e.g., Fight Club, American Psycho, and King of Queens).
- Dozent/in: Janice Mitchell