Overview

This book is about the centrality of movement, movement perception, and kinesthetic experience to theatrical spectatorship. Drawing upon phenomenological accounts of movement experience and the insights of cognitive science, neuroscience, acting theory, dance theory, philosophy of mind, and linguistics, it considers how we inhabit the movements of others and how these movements inhabit us. Individual chapters explore the dynamics of movement and animation, action and intentionality, kinesthetic resonance (or mirroring), language, speech, and empathy. In one of its most important contributions to the study of theatre, performance, and spectatorship, this book foregrounds otherness, divergence, and disability in its account of movement perception. The discussions of this and other issues are accompanied by detailed analysis of theatre, puppetry, and dance performances.

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9783030063009

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Reviews

Throughout the book Garner largely eschews both academic and scientific jargon as he deftly moves among disciplines ... . Although the book is grounded in Garner's comprehension of theory and science, his clarity as he applies that knowledge to performer-spectator interchanges in an expansive array of performances and performative events is the volume's true contribution to the field. (Adam Versenyi, Theatre Survey, Vol. 62 (1), January, 2021) Stanton Garner provides an invaluable interpretation of major concepts used in the study of performance. ... Garner's explanation of movement in theatre will prove indispensable to those working with phenomenological concepts of the body in performance as well as readers wanting to understand them. ... I appreciate what this book achieves in this regard. It successfully provides a sustained exploration of the ways in which theatrical movement is physically perceived while accommodating contemporary political concerns. (Peta Tait, Contemporary Theatre Review, September 2, 2020)

Garner's personal account is vivid, detailed, and multifaceted, engaging the reader through his rich theatrical experience ... . His book is a groundbreaking advancement in the hybrid domain of performance, phenomenology, and cognition, pointing to new ways of theoretical and experiential research. Complex and demanding as it constantly is, it is also exemplary in the manner of its writing, and the ultimate pleasure of reading it is commensurate on the cognitive and the aesthetic level alike. (Elizabeth Sakellaridou, Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, Vol. 9 (1), 2021) Throughout the book Garner largely eschews both academic and scientific jargon as he deftly moves among disciplines ... . Although the book is grounded in Garner's comprehension of theory and science, his clarity as he applies that knowledge to performer-spectator interchanges in an expansive array of performances and performative events is the volume's true contribution to the field. (Adam Versenyi, Theatre Survey, Vol. 62 (1), January, 2021) Stanton Garner provides an invaluable interpretation of major concepts used in the study of performance. ... Garner's explanation of movement in theatre will prove indispensable to those working with phenomenological concepts of the body in performance as well as readers wanting to understand them. ... I appreciate what this book achieves in this regard. It successfully provides a sustained exploration of the ways in which theatrical movement is physically perceived while accommodating contemporary political concerns. (Peta Tait, Contemporary Theatre Review, September 2, 2020)

Author Information

Stanton B. Garner, Jr. is Professor of English and Adjunct Professor of Theatre at the University of Tennessee, USA. He is the author of The Absent Voice: Narrative Comprehension in the Theater, Bodied Spaces: Phenomenology and Performance in Contemporary Drama, Trevor Griffiths: Politics, Drama, History, and numerous articles on drama, theatre, and performance.

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