Where is the performance in Joseph Roach's "Culture and Performance"?
I’d like to ask for some help, both in sorting out an essay, and in answering the question, “What is performance theory for?” I’ve been struggling with Joseph Roach’s essay in Performativity and Performance . At first reading, it seemed to be a clear tracing of three funeral performances as examples of social memory. Stepping back from it, though, I feel like it wanders over lots of territory, and I’m having difficulty finding the main point he is arguing. I believe one of his main theses is that literature and orature are interrelated, “that these modes of communication have produced one another interactively over time” (45). Another thesis is that performance allows culture to change. I don’t see how these arguments are supported with the analysis of different funeral performances, though. The literature he refers to is the libretto of an opera (an obvious aesthetic performance form) or a newspaper. How is performance related to what has traditionally been considered literatu...
Hi friends!
ReplyDeleteThere was much less discussion this week as we enjoyed Mitch's presentation over the research tools and resources available to us as graduate students. I come from a smaller university and I found the prospect of reserving a Study Carrel in the library an interesting and novel way to focus uninterrupted. Another point I found helpful was the distinction between the 'discovery' search on the LSU Library main page and the individual databases we have access to search. In the past I have frequently used the discovery search feature to avoid the belabored task of logging in to various databases individually (probably another result of a smaller university) only to be frustrated by the sheer volume of often unrelated results to sift through. Mitch noted that the discovery search may cast too wide of a net for what we may be looking for as it searches across all of the online resources of the library and directed us on easier ways to access specific databases with quick and easy login through myLSU. I feel that the familiarity with the website and how to navigate its resources will be helpful in the future. I also thought the information he shared regarding keeping virtual folders of texts and of creating an online EBSCO account helpful in terms of keeping track of research we may find and want to return to later.
Hi Ethan, I also enjoyed Mitch's presentation. I'm most left with his helpful instruction on how to say 'Fontenot'. I really appreciated him taking a stand for us 'outsiders', to get it RIGHT. I think cultural/language learning is so important, and it takes people like Mitch who take a stand for people to learn respect for his heritage, evidenced by how we say his name.
DeleteMoving to the content of library resources, I still feel frustrated sometimes with academic sources on the content I research. I often have to go outside academic sources. I think improving the way I use databases might help, or catalogs, but some of it is just not available in the library because academic institutions filter out critical anti-state violence pieces, or you just have to do 'author searches', then read the bibliography and continue with those sources.
I did like the idea of EBSCO notifications though. If that works, I would love it. To end on a positive note, I LOVE that CMST has its own librarian and you can bet that I will be hitting up Mitch, and taking advantage of the library resources while I am here. Library access is a major privilege.
Hello all!
ReplyDeleteI also really appreciated his presentation. Since I did come to LSU previously for my BA, I was thankfully really familiar with some of the research tools. However, I do appreciate that there is a bit more of a distinction, like Ethan mentioned above, between using the Discovery and the other methods of finding things in a more targeted, specified manner. The idea of folders is also an absolute godsend for me, too; I had an app for my desktop that I used to collect everything, but I think I'm safe to use this for my research moving forward. That way I'll save some very valuable storage space.
Thinking about all the possible avenues and methods for research has me eager to get started on brainstorming for my final project.
I'm curious to see what all of you have planned for your final projects as well. I find that once we carve out a little niche within research interests we can sometimes get obsessive over that one topic. I find hearing about others' perspectives and interests in research is a great way to pull back and get some more inspiration.
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteAs previously mentioned, the distinction of between searching in discovery, catalog, and databases was really eyeopening. It will make searches smarter. Also, it's revealing that LSU has some fund reserved to foot the publishing cost of students whose work will be published in Open Access Journal.
Mitch was great, as usual. I normally have him come to speak to my Public Speaking courses so initially I didn’t think I would gain anything new from his presentation. However I was pleasantly surprised. I learned about the software available to help store and sort your citations—maybe even transferring them from specific source type to another. I also learned of the special workshops coming up specifically for graduate students. I tried to sign up, but the class was full.
ReplyDeleteI was also reminded of the minimal access LSU Libraies have to specific databases. Mitch mentioned that we have 1/3 of Ebscohost’s databases. For me, this is not a lot considering I come from an university that has at least 2/3 access. I was also reminded of the financial discrepancies at LSU that supports athletics more than education—the lack of proper resources at this school and overall state. Imagine the education being offered to K-12 students. I am sorry o have taken a different turn with my thoughts, but I feel strongly about my ability to access fruitful materials through my school and I am saddened every time I use the LSU system.
Obviously, this session provided an overwhelming amount of information, too much to digest in half an hour and, without a specific task at hand to ground it, bewildering and transitory. Such is the nature of introductions to new systems. But what struck me, what seemed counter to my predicted use of this information, was how Mitch wanted to open up the search. He either left search terms loose or arranged them in a way to ensure the highest yield of information. He crackled and sparked with the number of resources available. Search in more places, draw in more information. But my problem is the opposite. How do I limit the number of articles that mention some reordering of my topic phrase, or how do I wade through the completely unrelated things? So often, a search for journal articles about a topic brings up pediatric development studies or reaction of protein inhibitors. So I’m usually looking for ways to narrow down my search rather than jumping into every resource the university provides.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings to mind another common difficulty I’ve found. When I try to limit the search by field, either I can’t find the field of Performance Studies or I don’t know what field I’m in. Sometimes I’m drawing on psychology or robotics, so I don’t want to exclude those. At the same time, I’m not interested in much traditional theater. It’s the same conundrum I faced when I opened the issue of Performance Research on objects and found very few articles dealing with theatrical performance with objects.
Did not think we had to post after Mitch's presentation. But then I saw all of your posts. Mitch gave me some good advice. I will definitely use his resource guide to look up previous dissertations. I will also use the citation resources he listed off because lets be honest -- you'd have to be a psychopath to like formatting citation pages. I will also see if he can come to my class and speak. Nice dude with a good attitude.
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