Performativity - Anthropology - Oxford Bibliographies

Performativity is the power of language to effect change in the world: language does not simply describe the world but may instead (or also) ... 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Signinwithyourlibrarycard Pleaseenteryourlibrarycardnumber InThisArticleExpandorcollapsethe"inthisarticle"sectionPerformativity IntroductionFoundationalTextsReviewsCritiquesofPerformativity/PerformativesPerformativeEthnographySubjectivityGender,Sex,andSexualityGenderSexualityPerformanceandPerformativityRitualEconomicPerformativityPoliticsandthePowerofPerformativityPerformativityinInstitutionalSettingsSemioticsand/ofPerformativityPerformativityofDocumentsandWritingPerformingCulture Backtotop RelatedArticlesExpandorcollapsethe"relatedarticles"sectionabout AboutRelatedArticlesclosepopup EthnographicDocumentaryProduction EthnographicFilm Ethnography HumanisticAnthropology IntertextualityandInterdiscursivity LinguisticAnthropology MikhailBakhtin PerformanceStudies Semiotics OtherSubjectAreas AfricanAmericanStudiesAfricanStudiesAmericanLiteratureArchitecturePlanningandPreservationArtHistoryAtlanticHistoryBiblicalStudiesBritishandIrishLiteratureBuddhismChildhoodStudiesChineseStudiesCinemaandMediaStudiesClassicsCommunicationCriminologyEcologyEducationEnvironmentalScienceEvolutionaryBiologyGeographyHinduismInternationalLawInternationalRelationsIslamicStudiesJewishStudiesLatinAmericanStudiesLatinoStudiesLinguisticsLiteraryandCriticalTheoryManagementMedievalStudiesMilitaryHistoryMusicPhilosophyPoliticalSciencePsychologyPublicHealthRenaissanceandReformationSocialWorkSociologyUrbanStudiesVictorianLiterature ForthcomingArticlesExpandorcollapsethe"forthcomingarticles"section IndigeneityandtheMedia Plantations Zoonosis Findmoreforthcomingarticles...   Feedback Print ExportCitations Cite Emailthiscontent ShareLink Copythislink,orclickbelowtoemailittoafriend Emailthiscontent orcopythelinkdirectly: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0114.xml Thelinkwasnotcopied.Yourcurrentbrowsermaynotsupportcopyingviathisbutton. LinkcopiedsuccessfullyCopylink ShareThis Performativity byJillianR.CavanaughLASTREVIEWED:26September2018LASTMODIFIED:10March2015DOI:10.1093/obo/9780199766567-0114 Introduction Performativityisthepoweroflanguagetoeffectchangeintheworld:languagedoesnotsimplydescribetheworldbutmayinstead(oralso)functionasaformofsocialaction.TheconceptofperformativelanguagewasfirstdescribedbythephilosopherJohnL.Austinwhopositedthattherewasadifferencebetweenconstativelanguage,whichdescribestheworldandcanbeevaluatedastrueorfalse,andperformativelanguage,whichdoessomethingintheworld.ForAustin,performativelanguageincludedspeechactssuchaspromising,swearing,betting,andperformingamarriageceremony.Forinstance,theutterance,“Ido”—saidundertherightcircumstancesbytherightspeakerswiththerightintentions—transformstheuttererfrombeingunmarriedtobeingmarried.Austinpositedanumberoffelicityconditionsthatmustbemetinorderforsuchutterancestofunctionperformatively.Otherscholarshavetakenupthesebasicinsightstoexplorethevariouswaysinwhichlanguagecandothingsintheworld.Mostnotably,JudithButlerdevelopedtheconceptofperformativitytodescribehowgenderisconstructedinthe1990s.Butlerarguedthatgenderisanongoingandsociallyconstructedprocess,whichproceedsthroughacontinuousseriesofperformativeacts,from,forexample,theutteranceof“It’saboy!”onthroughaperson’slifetime.Performativity,then,istheprocessofsubjectformation,whichcreatesthatwhichitpurportstodescribeandoccursthroughlinguisticmeans,aswellasviaothersocialpractices.FollowingButler,theconceptofperformativityhasbeenrichlyexploredinanthropologicalstudiesofgenderandsexuality.Scholarsofritualhavealsousedtheconceptofperformativeactionandperformativityveryproductively,lookingathowritualsworkperformativelytohaveeffectsontheworld.Othertypesofperformanceshavebeenalsoanalyzedfromaperformativeviewpoint.Inthelate1990s,anthropologistsandotherscholarsstudyingeconomiesbegantoconsidereconomicperformativity,orhowthepracticesofeconomistsandotherfinancialexpertsarenotsimplydescriptiveoftheirsubjectbutalsoservetoshapeit.Notsurprisingly,giventheconcept’sinitialconceptualizationaslinguisticinnature,linguisticanthropologistsinparticularhavefoundtheconceptanalyticallyuseful.Anumberofchallengesandissueshavecharacterizedscholarlydebatesaboutperformativelanguageandperformativity.Theseincludetheroleofactors’intentionsandissuesofagency,theimportanceofcontext,theiterabilityorrepeatedversusspontaneousnatureofperformativeaction,andtheeffectsofsocialrolesanddistributionsofpoweracrossparticipants. FoundationalTexts HowToDoThingswithWords(Austin1962)isthefoundationaltextonperformativelanguage:hereAustinintroducesandelaboratesonthedifferencesbetweenconstativeordescriptivelanguageandperformativelanguageandeventuallymovestodescribealllinguisticactsasbelongingtothreetypes:locutionary(languagethatdescribes),illocutionary(languagethatdoesthingsintheworld),andperlocutionary(languagethatistheeffectofthatdoing).Inotherwords,performativeforce,ortheabilityto“dothingswithwords”wasexpandedtocoveramuchbroaderrangeoflinguisticactivitythanthediscretespeechactsofpromising,swearing,betting,etc.AuthoredbyastudentofAustin’s,Searle1969developedthesecategoriesintowhathasbeenknownas“speechacttheory”;Benveniste1971similarlyexpoundeduponspeechacttheorywithafocusonefficacyandspeakerroles.Butler1990andButler1993arekeytextsinthedevelopmentofperformativityasasocialprocessasrelatedtogender,sex,andsexuality;Butler1997theorizedthepoliticsofperformativityinspeech.Inaworkthatisakeytextinscienceandtechnologystudies,Lyotard1984arguedthatdoingscienceincludesadegreeofperformativity. Austin,JohnL.1962.Howtodothingswithwords.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniv.Press.Introducestheconceptofperformativeasopposedtoconstativelanguageandlaidthefoundationsofspeechacttheory.Discussesthelocutionary,illocutionary,andperlocutionaryfunctionsoflanguage.Felicityconditionsandinfelicitousfailuresareboththesubjectofmuchtheorizing. Benveniste,Emile.1971.Analyticalphilosophyandlanguage.InProblemsingenerallinguistics.TranslatedbyMaryElizabethMeek,231–238.CoralGables,FL:Univ.ofMiamiPress.ExploresandexpandsAustin’sconceptofperformativestostresstheimportanceofconsideringperformativeefficacyandpowervis-à-visparticipantrolesandhowparticularspeechactsarecontextualized.ForBenveniste,performativesdependontheauthorityofthespeakerandareinherentlyreflexiveinnature. Butler,Judith.1990.Gendertrouble:Feminismandthesubversionofidentity.NewYork:Routledge.Butler’sapproachtogenderbuildsontheworkofFoucaulttotheorizegenderastheproductofsocialactivity.InitialdiscussionofperformativityfromAustin’sperformativespeechasitrelatestogender,howitfunctionsviaiterability(orrepetition)anddoesnotrelyontheintentionoftheactor. Butler,Judith.1993.Bodiesthatmatter:Onthediscursivelimitsof“sex.”London:Routledge.Furtherelaborationofhowgenderperformativityworksthroughtheongoingprocessofrepeatedactsof“doinggender,”whichfunctionstomaketheseactionsappearessentialornatural.Inappearingtobetheelaborationofbiologicalsex,theperformativityofgenderinturn(re)inscribessexonthebodyinparticularways. Butler,Judith.1997.Excitablespeech:Apoliticsoftheperformative.NewYork:Routledge.Developstheperformativityofpoliticaldiscourse,workingfromvariousexamplesofhatespeechandothertypesofpublicdiscourseinwhichpowerisenacted.Showsthatresignificationofsuchspeechisalwayspossible,althoughitoccurswithincomplexhistoricalandsocialinterrelationships. Lyotard,Jean-François.1984.Thepostmoderncondition:Areportonknowledge.TranslatedbyGeoffreyBenningtonandBrianMassumi.Minneapolis:Univ.ofMinnesotaPress.Portraysscienceasalanguagegame,buildingonWittgenstein’sconceptoflanguagegames,whichdependsontheperformativityoflanguageaboutscientificdiscovery(peopledescribingitastruemakeittrue),soastojustifyitsfinancing. Searle,John.1969.Speechacts:Anessayinthephilosophyoflanguage.Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniv.Press. DOI:10.1017/CBO9781139173438FleshesoutandelaboratesAustin’sworktodevelopspeechacttheory,inparticularhowdifferenttypesofutteranceshavedifferenttypesofrelationshipstoandeffectsontheworld.Discusseshowtheillocutionaryforceofspeechdependsonutteringtherightwords,intherightway,undertherightcircumstances. backtotop Userswithoutasubscriptionarenotabletoseethefullcontenton thispage.Pleasesubscribeorlogin. HowtoSubscribe OxfordBibliographiesOnlineisavailablebysubscriptionandperpetualaccesstoinstitutions.FormoreinformationortocontactanOxfordSalesRepresentativeclickhere. 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