CATR Call for Participants: Seminar "A Marriage on the Rocks? Ethnography and Performance Studies"

[Kazubowski-Houston Magdalena]

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Canadian Association for Theatre Research / Association Canadienne de la 
Recherche Théâtrale Conference, 24-27 May 2014, Brock University

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**Call for Participants: Seminar//*/A Marriage on the Rocks? Ethnography 
and Performance Studies
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Traditionally, ethnography has been a central and defining research 
methodology in anthropology. However, recent decades have seen a 
so-called "ethnographic turn" in the humanities and social sciences. 
This has been understood to be a response to postmodern critiques of 
scientific positivism, reductionism, mind-body dualism, disembodied 
armchair scholarship, and traditional researcher-researched power 
imbalances. Anthropology's self-critique of its imperialist ontological 
and epistemological underpinnings has also contributed to ethnography's 
currency.

Performance studies' and anthropology's common interests in cultural 
critique,

contextual analysis, lived experience and embodied scholarship, has made 
the marriage between the two an inevitable outcome. In the last decade 
in particular, with performance studies' project of rethinking its 
epistemological identity, ethnography has become a buzzword. It has 
frequently been used interchangeably for interviewing, qualitative 
research, community-based performance, intercultural performance, 
autobiographical performance, etc. This, in turn, has incurred 
anthropology's criticism of the social sciences' and humanities' romance 
with ethnography. Anthropologists have expressed concerns over the 
ethical implications of misappropriating ethnography as a universally 
applicable method devoid of anthropological historicity and the lessons 
that come with it.

This seminar seeks to bring together scholars whose works span 
performance studies, anthropology and ethnography. It seeks 
contributions that critically examine ethnographic research in 
performance studies scholarship. Possible topics may include, but are 
not limited to:

·Genealogies of ethnographic research in performance studies

·Ethical implications of employing ethnographic research in performance 
studies

·Anthropological responses to the "ethnographic turn" in performance studies

·Performance studies' responses to anthropological critiques of "the 
ethnographic turn" in performance studies

·Future directions of ethnographic research in performance studies

·Contributions of performance studies to ethnography

Interested scholars should submit a proposal (no more than 250 words) 
indicating the scope of their contribution to the seminar conversation, 
the topics they would like to engage with, and a brief bio to Magdalena 
Kazubowski-Houston mkazubow at yorku.ca <mailto:mkazubow at yorku.ca>by 
*January 13, 2014*. Acceptances will be communicated in early February 
2014.



Magdalena Kazubowski-Houston
Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre
Graduate Program in Theatre & Performance Studies
Graduate Program in Social Anthropology
York University
312 Centre for Film and Theatre (CFT)
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada
T: 416-736-2100 x. 22257
E: mkazubow at yorku.ca <mailto:mkazubow at yorku.ca>


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