![]() ![]() This methodological approach entered the social sciences and humanities in the 1990s but is rooted in the 1940s and 1950s. The assumption is that all human practices are 'performed', so that any action at whatever moment or location can be seen as a public presentation of the self. Previously used as a metaphor for theatricality, performance is now often employed as a heuristic principle to understand human behaviour. The performative turn is a paradigmatic shift in the humanities and social sciences that affected such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, ethnography, history and the relatively young discipline of performance studies. Generally the performative turn is concerned with the latter, although the two senses of performance should be seen as ends of a spectrum rather than distinct categories. Schechner called this the 'as-performance'. In a weaker sense, performance refers to the informal scenarios of daily life, suggesting that everyday practices are 'performed'. Founder of the discipline of performance studies Richard Schechner dubs this category 'is-performance'. Performance in this sense is an enactment out of convention and tradition. In the more formal sense, performance refers to a framed event. ![]() Performance is an equivocal concept and for the purpose of analysis it is useful to distinguish between two senses of 'performance'. In the academic field, as opposed to the domain of the performing arts, the concept of performance is generally used to highlight dynamic interactions between social actors or between a social actor and their immediate environment. It is the presentation or 're-actualization' of symbolic systems through living bodies as well as lifeless mediating objects, such as architecture. Performance is a bodily practice that produces meaning. This view was also influenced by philosophers such as Michel Foucault and Louis Althusser. Instead, it views actions, behaviors, and gestures as both the result of an individual's identity as well as a source that contributes to the formation of one's identity which is continuously being redefined through speech acts and symbolic communication. This view of performativity reverses the idea that a person's identity is the source of their secondary actions (speech, gestures). Influenced by Austin, gender studies philosopher Judith Butler argued that gender is socially constructed through commonplace speech acts and nonverbal communication that are performative, in that they serve to define and maintain identities. Common examples of performative language are making promises, betting, performing a wedding ceremony, an umpire calling a foul, or a judge pronouncing a verdict. ![]() Austin differentiated this from constative language, which he defined as descriptive language that can be "evaluated as true or false". Austin when he referred to a specific capacity: the capacity of speech and communication to act or to consummate an action. The concept is first described by philosopher of language John L. The concept has multiple applications in diverse fields such as anthropology, social and cultural geography, economics, gender studies ( social construction of gender), law, linguistics, performance studies, history, management studies and philosophy. Performativity is the concept that language can function as a form of social action and have the effect of change. ![]()
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