Body Images in Performing Arts in the Age of Globalization

In the process of globalization, space and distance lose their significance, symbols are circulated worldwide, and international networks are created. Thanks to new possibilities in communication and transport, the limits of the consciously perceived world are surpassed and extended. Based on the thesis that these characteristics of globalization have a certain influence on the arts, it shall be the aim of this project to examine and analyze the effects of this process on the performing arts - and consequently on the emerging body images. Within three steps: (1) The Circulation of Symbols and Meanings, (2) The Terminology: From `Theatre` to `Performance`, (3) The Political Dimensions: Body Talks, I intend to discuss the following research questions: How did/does the process of globalization influence body images in performing arts? Is it appropriate to convey the term `theatre` - which is of Greek provenace, is founded on the concept of `mimesis,` and has developed in a close relation to Greek/European philosophical traditions - in a transcultural context? Does it make sense to replace it, in a globalized context, with the (relatively young) term `performance`? Can we argue that methods of transculturality have become a dominant aesthetic practice in a globalized world, which lead to new forms of perception and consequently provoke a new aesthetics? And finally: To what extent do body images, as presented in performances of Hawai`ian Butho dancer Lori Ohtani and Chinese performer Wen Hui, reflect a worldwide circulation of cultural symbols and elements, visualize the loss in meaning of space and time and do reveal - or talk about - political issues? These questions will be deconstructed and analyzed theoretically, and discussed on the basis of selected performances by Lori Ohtani and Wen Hui. Considering evaluations of interrelations between aesthetical and political components, the objective is to provide an integrated profile of the effects of transculturality and globalization on body images in the performing arts. Eventually, I will develop a deliberate system methodology for assessing the global and transcultural impacts on performing arts, taking into account both methods of different scientific disciplines (e. g. sociology, philosophy, theatre/dance theory, anthropology) and of different cultural (Chinese, European) provenience. These tools shall facilitate a non-centric manner of analyzing global, transcultural performance phenomena.

Globalization and media interconnection have not only changed how we perceive the world, but also our ways of living and communication. Based on the thesis that processes and dynamics of globalization do have an extensive influence on the arts, it was the aim of the research project 'Mimesis' was a Greek Idea. Body Images in Performing Arts in the Age of Globalization to analyze these effects on the performance arts and the body images emerging within that artistic context. The work was led by the central research questions as through which mechanisms processes of globalization do act on body images, if the term 'theater', which is based on Greek-European thinking and the concept of 'mimesis', is still appropriate in the global cultural landscape that we find in 21st century, if cultural pluralism has become a dominant practice which provoked a new aesthetics, and finally in how far the body images of two selected performers represent a worldwide circulation of cultural symbols and elements, visualize the loss in meaning of space and time, or even reveal politically put parameters. Considering the comments and remarks of the two reviewers, I decided in the initial phase of the project to annihilate the selection of just two performers, in order to broaden the research focus. Central for the execution of the project was the remark of one reviewer to operate with a postcolonial understanding of 'power.' In this context, the lecture of Byung-Chul Han's theories on 'hyperculturality' was essential for the development of the project and finally also for its research results. Including contemporary philosophical, sociological and postcolonial discourses, it became apparent that a movement/transition from the denomination 'intercultural theatre' to a characterization as 'hypercultural performances' turns out to be productive for artistic-performative works in 21st century that have culture(s) and cultural exchange as topic/subject/issue. How a view on or even an analysis of 'hypercultural performances' could look like, which tools/instruments we have available for that, was the issue in diverse publications and lectures conducted in the course of the project. This complies with the already in the research proposal formulated demand of the project to translate the dynamics of globalization in artistic-scientific methods, and to put an opposition against a homogenization of discourse.In a premeditated second part of this research project, which shall be realized within the frame of an FWF-financed Elisa-Richter position at the Department of Theater, Film, and Media Studies, University of Vienna, the focal point will be put on the performer's body and the images that it generates in a performance situation. For this, the insights gained and method developed in this henceforth terminated first part, will certainly be incorporated.