Performance cover

Performance

by Marvin Albert Carlson

*Performance: A Critical Introduction* is the first textbook to provide an overview of the modern concept of performance and how it has developed in various fields. In a highly accessible style, Marvin Carlson introduces the reader to the contested interpretations of performance art as a theatrical activity and to the ways that performance has been understood by ethnographers, anthropologists, linguists, and cultural theorists. The topic he discusses include: - the evolution of performance art since the 1960s - developments of performance as a concept within the various social sciences - the relationships between performance, postmodernism, and the politics of identity. For any student of performance studies, visual and performing arts or theatre history, *Performance: A Critical Introduction* provides a vital insight into the diverse meanings and uses of performance.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?