English Literature & Creative Writing

Event Title

Metaliminality: An Analysis on the Rites of Theatergoing and the Resulting Ritualistic Empathy

Presenter Information

Michael Mead, Valparaiso University

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

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.

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Apr 11th, 10:45 AM Apr 11th, 12:00 PM

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.