English Literature & Creative Writing
Metaliminality: An Analysis on the Rites of Theatergoing and the Resulting Ritualistic Empathy
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
English Literature & Creative Writing
Start Date
11-4-2014 10:45 AM
End Date
11-4-2014 12:00 PM
Sponsor
David Western (Valparaiso University)
Description
Theatrical space is characterized by its ability, through storytelling, to transcend death, time, and other limitations presented by every day reality. Set apart from the machinations of daily life, theatres assume a sort of sacredness that yields the conditions for Arnold van Gennep's rites of passage. Attending a theatrical event becomes a ritual in which the audience member enters and willingly submits to a realm of myth and inbetweenness. The liminality that defines the space also produces the effects of Victor Turner's communitas, a surrender of the ritual participant's secular identity resulting in a perfect equality based on an 'essential humanness'. While this occurs, elements of the same ritual are generally reflected in the plot or character journey found within the presented theatrical work. The coinciding rituals create a dual-inbetweenness, or metaliminality, in which both the audience members and the theatrical characters are broken down to their 'essential humanness', blurring the line between the reality presented in the world of the play and the spectator's reality. The result is a ritualistic empathic link between the audience and the characters at play. This also implies that a responsibility exists on the audience's part to properly engage in the ritual of theatergoing.
Metaliminality: An Analysis on the Rites of Theatergoing and the Resulting Ritualistic Empathy
Indianapolis, IN
Theatrical space is characterized by its ability, through storytelling, to transcend death, time, and other limitations presented by every day reality. Set apart from the machinations of daily life, theatres assume a sort of sacredness that yields the conditions for Arnold van Gennep's rites of passage. Attending a theatrical event becomes a ritual in which the audience member enters and willingly submits to a realm of myth and inbetweenness. The liminality that defines the space also produces the effects of Victor Turner's communitas, a surrender of the ritual participant's secular identity resulting in a perfect equality based on an 'essential humanness'. While this occurs, elements of the same ritual are generally reflected in the plot or character journey found within the presented theatrical work. The coinciding rituals create a dual-inbetweenness, or metaliminality, in which both the audience members and the theatrical characters are broken down to their 'essential humanness', blurring the line between the reality presented in the world of the play and the spectator's reality. The result is a ritualistic empathic link between the audience and the characters at play. This also implies that a responsibility exists on the audience's part to properly engage in the ritual of theatergoing.