Abstract
Proceeding from the assumption that a performance takes place in and through the bodily co-presence of actors and spectators, and arises out of their encounter, this essay surveys theories of spectatorship within European cultures from the 17th century until today with regard to the key concepts of spectatorship in theatre. Particular emphasis is placed on the emergence of the idea around 1800 that spectatorship is an art by itself, which a century later led to the discourse on ‘active’ vs. ‘passive’ spectators. With the help of examples from contemporary theatre, this essay traces the different ways in which the aesthetics of a performance can transfer spectators into liminal situations, possibly resulting in various kinds of transformation. Instead of working with concepts such as Wirkungsästhetik (aesthetics of effect) or reception aesthetics, the suggestion is to use the term ‘transformative aesthetics’, which seems more appropriate with regard to spectatorship as an art.
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Bionote
Erika Fischer-Lichte, born 1943 in Hamburg, is director of the Institute for Advanced Studies on ‘Interweaving Performance Cultures’ (since 2008) and spokesperson of the International Doctoral School ‘InterArt’ (since 2006). She is a member of the Academia Europaea, the Academy of Sciences at Goettingen, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Her research fields include aesthetics, history and theory of theatre, in particular semiotics and performativity, and contemporary theatre. She has held guest professorships in the USA, Russia, India, Japan, China and Norway. Among her publications are Dionysos Resurrected: Performances of Euripides’ The Bacchae in a Globalizing World (2014), Global Ibsen: Performing Multiple Modernities (2010), The Transformative Power of Performance: A New Aesthetics (2008; German 2004), Theatre, Sacrifice, Ritual: Exploring Forms of Political Theatre (2005).
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