Nordic Theatre Studies 

About: Nordic Theatre Studies is an academic journal published by Aarhus University Library. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Theatre studies & Political theatre. It has an ISSN identifier of 0904-6380. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 145 publications have been published receiving 258 citations.

Emotional Tropes in the Courtroom : On Representation of Affect and Emotion in Legal Court Proceedings

Abstract: Emotional Tropes in the Courtroom: On Representation of Affect and Emotion in Legal Court Proceedings The modern legal courtroom is a peculiar place. Like the theatre it is a space open for many kinds of drama, verbal re-enactments of events and forced resolutions of human conflicts. There are often strong emotions at play in the courtroom: desire and love, jealousy and anger, but also sadness and remorse, fear and suffering. These emotions are controlled and tempered by the physical design of the courtroom, by legal procedure and the rule-bound rationality of law, but also by the serious attitude of the judge(s) and lay judges. Although in legal proceedings the parties are restrained from giving voice to emotions, in reality feelings and affects show through: in glances, timber of voice, flushes, crying, laughter and smell of sweat. The expressions of emotion and affect may be involuntary or staged, but in either case they are very much part of what is said and done in the courtroom. However, in the legal representation of court proceedings in the transcripts and the rulings these human emotions and affects become invisible, the emotions have been filtered away or have sunk to the bottom of legal space. In my essay I explore the peculiar emotive social space constructed and enacted in the courtroom, in particular the ambiguous attitude towards human emotions in law: on the one hand as disturbing and dangerous, and on the other as the true basis of human character and social conflict. The study is based on an ethnographic study of the lower level court in Stockholm (Stockholms tingsreitt). The study is part of a larger study on "Legal Spaces. The construction and representation of legal spaces in law, literature and political philosophy."

Magnitudes of Performativity : Donald Trump in the Anthropo(s)cene

Abstract: The article presents the Trump presidency and the human-driven geological epoch of the Anthropocene as two arguable extremes among current notions of ‘performativity’: (1) a traditionally vertical model based on individual action and antagonism – where ‘facts’ matter less than ‘making things great’; and (2) the more extended, horizontal human performance of things like global warming (“All the world’s a stage”). Drawing freely on George Lakoff and Timothy Morton, it is argued that these models differ fundamentally in ‘magnitude’: where the one is direct, singular, vertical, and fast, the other is systemic, plural, horizontal, and slow beyond human perception. With Judith Butler and Naomi Klein, it is also argued that to actually confront the twin crises at issue, we need to acknowledge the kind of ‘plural performativity’ – of repetition, norms, and dissimulation – that brought them into being in the first place.

Emotional Participation : the use of the observer’s emotions as a methodological tool when studying professional stage actors rehearsing a role for the stage

Abstract: This contribution aims to identify and clarify emotional aspects of conducting observation studies. The researcher, in most cases, does not want to interfere with or influence the phenomenon under ...

Performing with Plants in the Ob-scene Anthropocene

Abstract: Is there a way for the anthropocentric and anthropomorphic art form par excellence, the theatre, or performance art for that matter, to expand beyond their human and humanist bias? Is the term Anthropocene in any way useful for theatre and performance studies or performance-as-research? In the anthology Anthropocene Feminism (Grusin 2017) Rosi Braidotti proposes four theses for a posthumanist feminism: 1) feminism is not a humanism, 2) anthropos is off-center, 3) zoe is the ruling principle, 4) sexuality is a force beyond gender. These assertions can undoubtedly be put on stage, but do they have relevance for developing or understanding performance practices off-stage and off-center, such as those trying to explore alternative ways and sites of performing, like performing with plants? In this text, I examine Braidotti’s affirmative theses and explore their usefulness with regard to performance analysis, use some of my experiments in the artistic research project “Performing with plants” as examples, and consider what the implications and possible uses of these theses are for our understanding of performances with other-than-human entities, which we share our planet with.

Activating Dance Records. Conceptualizing research into the Swedish, Nordic and global archives pertaining to the Russian dancer Anna Robenne

Abstract: This article explores the following research question: In what ways can activations of dance records (archived materials and other recordings of activities) be conceptualized to contribute to the making of a critically productive dance history in the digital age? Drawing on an extensive study of the Russian dancer Anna Robenne, the article focuses on the archival explorations (or road trip) as such, and in particular the multifaceted ways in which the records themselves can be active agents in processes of memory making and history production. Adopting recent theoretical developments concerning the concept of pluralization in archival studies, the exploration discards the conventional and rather static understanding of records as neutral containers of facts to emphasize instead an inclusive and infinitely evolving process. Working within an interdisciplinary archive-oriented realm, the author reflexively makes use of practices and methods belonging to both art history and classical and contemporary dance tradition. The article first maps recent pluralizing approaches within archival studies including re-theorizations of the key concepts records, provenance, value and representation. It then conceptualizes archival activation through examples from the archival road trip. The article concludes by offering the reader clear arguments for archival pluralization in the form of intimate, invasive, and imaginary activation, and demonstrates the importance and relevance of closely, critically and imaginatively engaging with records. The article highlights the role the archive can play in breaking down cultural barriers and re-evaluating notions of dance historiography, heritage and cultural identity.