Overview

Cultural theory has taken a 'performative turn', shifting its focus from the textual nature of the world to how the social world is narrated, its subjects are subjected and its relations are ritually enacted. The rise of performativity in cultural theory - spearheaded in many ways by feminist theory - has profound implications for the way we think about ethics and politics. Indeed, as it concerns all aspects of 'difference', it reshapes the ways we think about the continuities and interruptions of social life itself.Culture and Performance explores the development and direction of the notion of performativity. It interrogates the idea of subjectivity, the possibility of ethics and, beyond this, it explores new ways of thinking political imaginations and possibilities. It traces the implications of the concept, and assesses the critique that is emerging from a renewed interest in creativity.

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9781845201043

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'This book offers a unique approach to the concept of performativity in feminist theory. Placing the concept within a larger philosophical frame that includes thinkers as diverse as Nietzsche, Bergson, Arendt, Levinas, Deleuze, Foucault, and Butler, Bell provides crucial insights into the most hotly debated issues in contemporary feminist thought. If, as Nietzsche put it, 'we have to learn to think differently', this is one of those rare books that puts us on that path. A brilliant achievement.' Lynne Huffer, Emory University 'In Culture and Performance, Vikki Bell pushes our understanding of performativity, ethics and politics in vital directions. She engages critically with a range of thinkers, using their ideas to interrogate key issues in feminist theory and politics. Timely and provocative, it contributes critically to debates that currently reverberate across disciplines.' David Bell, School of Geography, University of Leeds

'This book offers a unique approach to the concept of performativity in feminist theory. Placing the concept within a larger philosophical frame that includes thinkers as diverse as Nietzsche, Bergson, Arendt, Levinas, Deleuze, Foucault, and Butler, Bell provides crucial insights into the most hotly debated issues in contemporary feminist thought. If, as Nietzsche put it, 'we have to learn to think differently', this is one of those rare books that puts us on that path. A brilliant achievement.'Lynne Huffer, Emory University'In Culture and Performance, Vikki Bell pushes our understanding of performativity, ethics and politics in vital directions. She engages critically with a range of thinkers, using their ideas to interrogate key issues in feminist theory and politics. Timely and provocative, it contributes critically to debates that currently reverberate across disciplines.'David Bell, School of Geography, University of Leeds

'This book offers a unique approach to the concept of performativity in feminist theory. Placing the concept within a larger philosophical frame that includes thinkers as diverse as Nietzsche, Bergson, Arendt, Levinas, Deleuze, Foucault, and Butler, Bell provides crucial insights into the most hotly debated issues in contemporary feminist thought. If, as Nietzsche put it, we have to learn to think differently , this is one of those rare books that puts us on that path. A brilliant achievement.' Lynne Huffer, Emory University 'In Culture and Performance, Vikki Bell pushes our understanding of performativity, ethics and politics in vital directions. She engages critically with a range of thinkers, using their ideas to interrogate key issues in feminist theory and politics. Timely and provocative, it contributes critically to debates that currently reverberate across disciplines.' David Bell, School of Geography, University of Leeds

Author Information

Vikki Bell is Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is author of Interrogating Incest and Feminist Imagination and editor of Perfomativity and Belonging.

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