Book description
The Anthropology of Performance is an invaluable guide to this
exciting and growing area. This cutting-edge volume on the major
advancements in performance studies presents the theories, methods,
and practices of performance in cultures around the globe. Leading
anthropologists describe the range of human expression through
performance and explore its role in constructing identity and
community, as well as broader processes such as globalization and transnationalism.
- Introduces new and advanced students to the task of studying and
interpreting complex social, cultural, and political events from a
performance perspective
- Presents performance as a convergent field of inquiry that bridges
the humanities and social sciences, with a distinctive
cross-cultural perspective in anthropology
- Demonstrates the range of human expression and meaning through
performance in related fields of religious & ritual studies,
folkloristics, theatre, language arts, and art & dance
- Explores the role of performance in constructing identity,
community, and the broader processes of globalization and transnationalism
- Includes fascinating global case studies on a diverse range of phenomena
- Contributions from leading scholars examine verbal genres, ritual
and drama, public spectacle, tourism, and the performances embedded
in everyday selves, communities and nations
Frank J. Korom is Professor of Religion and Anthropology at
Boston University, where he teaches courses on verbal art,
anthropology of religion, and cultures of South Asia. He has conducted
extensive fieldwork in India, Sri Lanka, Trinidad, amongst other
places. His interests range from ritual and performance studies to
visual and material culture. His extensive publications include
Hosay Trinidad: Muharram Performances in an Indo-Caribbean
Diaspora (2003) and Village of Painters: Narrative Scrolls from
West Bengal (2006).
