Psychoanalysis and Performance

Kear, Adrian, Campbell, Patrick, Psychoanalysis and Performance (London: Routledge, 2001), pp.xiv+242 RAE2008

Never before has the relationship between psychoanalysis and performance been mapped out, either in terms of analyzing the nature of performance itself, or in terms of making sense of specific performance-related activities. In this volume some of the most distinguished thinkers in the field make this exciting new connection and offer original perspectives on a wide variety of topics, including: * the history of hypnotism * ventriloquism * cloning * the cultural politics of race and nation * transgressive performance * Futurism. From rehearsal process to consciousness theory, from digital performance to collective social trauma, the arguments advanced here are based on the dual principle that psychoanalysis can help our understanding of performance, and that performance can illuminate the workings of the human psyche.