Säg inte mötesplats! : Teater och integration i ord och handling
(2011) In Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology 21.- Abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the notion of multiculturalism in relation to theatre and drama. In Swedish public discourse, culture and the arts are frequently referred to as a social glue which keeps society together. In this context theatre holds a particular position. On the one hand theatre is looked upon as a magic key capable of opening up all sorts of discriminatory structures. Theatre, and actors, stereotypically exhibit essential features for achieving success in late modern society. Examples of such features are charisma, creativity, and flexibility. On the other hand theatre, especially theatre as an established institution, is criticised for being discriminatory and conservative.
Theatre thus... (More) - The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the notion of multiculturalism in relation to theatre and drama. In Swedish public discourse, culture and the arts are frequently referred to as a social glue which keeps society together. In this context theatre holds a particular position. On the one hand theatre is looked upon as a magic key capable of opening up all sorts of discriminatory structures. Theatre, and actors, stereotypically exhibit essential features for achieving success in late modern society. Examples of such features are charisma, creativity, and flexibility. On the other hand theatre, especially theatre as an established institution, is criticised for being discriminatory and conservative.
Theatre thus inhabits a position of ambivalence in relation to society at large. It is encouraged, even obliged, by the state to reach out to new audiences beyond that of Swedish-born, middle-class spectators. This is done in several ways; by creating mixed ensembles, with professionals and amateurs, or by producing scripts based on documentary research and “real” stories, told by “real” people. While the work produced within theatre should reflect society, artistic expressiveness is often surreal and fantastic. In this capacity theatre is ascribed an almost “magical” function in moving publics and dissolving unwanted boundaries.
The task is twofold. I start by trying to trace and describe systems of values and presuppositions underpinning multicultural theatre projects in Sweden. I then explore how such projects are launched, carried through and realized on a concrete empirical level. The observation was carried out primarily in 2006, in the setting of two theatre projects. One of them was a role play about refugees, A Journey Unlike any Other. The purpose of the project is to make teenagers understanding and sympathetic to the plights of refugees and immigrants. The other one was a version of the classical drama, Hamlet, transposed into a contemporary urban setting as Mohamlet. The play is an attempt to reach a new audience by placing it in a multicultural milieu; a falafel-restaurant reminiscent of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. These two productions are on opposit ends of the wide spectrum of late modern theatre dealing with multicultural topics.
Theatre is thus referred to, in one instance, as key, and in another as a closed door. It is at one and the same time portrayed as a solution and as a problem. My aim is to articulate, to illustrate, and to explain this duality and the processes in which it inheres, both within and beyond the confines of theatre performances and settings. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- ”Alltså säg inte mötesplats! Och möjlighet! Alltså dom här M-orden har jag egentligen lite svårt för liksom. Och mångkultur!”
Tjänstemannen blir plötsligt irriterad. Hon brinner för mångfald i kulturlivet, men retoriken, orden och jargongen gör henne frustrerad. Den här avhandlingen handlar till stor del om dessa ord och hur personer som arbetar med teater och integration förhåller sig till dem. Teatervärldens förhållande till mångkultur är ambivalent. Å ena sidan anses teater vara en föredömlig konstform när det gäller att representera och arbeta med mångfald. Å andra sidan kritiseras teatern för att reproducera exkluderande normsystem.
Syftet med denna avhandling är att förklara och skildra en dubbel process där teater både ses... (More) - ”Alltså säg inte mötesplats! Och möjlighet! Alltså dom här M-orden har jag egentligen lite svårt för liksom. Och mångkultur!”
Tjänstemannen blir plötsligt irriterad. Hon brinner för mångfald i kulturlivet, men retoriken, orden och jargongen gör henne frustrerad. Den här avhandlingen handlar till stor del om dessa ord och hur personer som arbetar med teater och integration förhåller sig till dem. Teatervärldens förhållande till mångkultur är ambivalent. Å ena sidan anses teater vara en föredömlig konstform när det gäller att representera och arbeta med mångfald. Å andra sidan kritiseras teatern för att reproducera exkluderande normsystem.
Syftet med denna avhandling är att förklara och skildra en dubbel process där teater både ses som medel för förändring och som föremål för förändring. I avhandlingen behandlas projekt och produktioner som exemplifierar båda perspektiven. I En resa som ingen annan skildras ett rollspelsbaserat projekt om flyktingskap från början till slut. Förhoppningen är att projektet skall fungera som en nyckel för att uppnå social integration.
I institutionspjäsen Mohamlet möter vi prins Hamlet i en hybrid, mångkulturell tappning. På institutionsteatern förväntas istället samhället vara den nyckel som skall öppna upp teatern. En möjlig anledning till polariseringen i synen på teater är ett behov att hantera en ökad, social komplexitet. Den sociala komplexiteten kan förklaras utifrån olika faktorer, såsom närvaron av parallella normsystem och globala maktförhållanden in transit. Sammantaget uppstår en förnimmelse av diffusa maktrelationer som hämmar förmågan till praktisk handling. Makten uppfattas å ena sidan som undflyende, å andra sidan beskrivs den vara ingjuten i samhällets strukturella byggnadsställning. Handling förskjuts därför till en symbolisk nivå, i detta fall teater. Denna transponering skulle kunna ses som ett utslag av ”magiskt tänkande”. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1940258
- author
- Wittrock, Hanna LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Wulff, Helena, Socialantropologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet
- organization
- publishing date
- 2011
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Teater, rollspel, institutionsteater, teaterantropologi, magiskt tänkande, performance, modebaserad diskursanalys, senmodern Hermeskultur
- in
- Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology
- volume
- 21
- pages
- 268 pages
- publisher
- Lund University
- defense location
- Edens hörsal, Paradisgatan 5 H, Lund
- defense date
- 2011-06-01 13:00:00
- ISSN
- 1101-9948
- ISBN
- 97-7267-332-X
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d6aed766-e9e0-4391-968f-749d84eedf07 (old id 1940258)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:49:17
- date last changed
- 2021-03-08 13:22:26
@phdthesis{d6aed766-e9e0-4391-968f-749d84eedf07,
abstract = {{The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the notion of multiculturalism in relation to theatre and drama. In Swedish public discourse, culture and the arts are frequently referred to as a social glue which keeps society together. In this context theatre holds a particular position. On the one hand theatre is looked upon as a magic key capable of opening up all sorts of discriminatory structures. Theatre, and actors, stereotypically exhibit essential features for achieving success in late modern society. Examples of such features are charisma, creativity, and flexibility. On the other hand theatre, especially theatre as an established institution, is criticised for being discriminatory and conservative.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Theatre thus inhabits a position of ambivalence in relation to society at large. It is encouraged, even obliged, by the state to reach out to new audiences beyond that of Swedish-born, middle-class spectators. This is done in several ways; by creating mixed ensembles, with professionals and amateurs, or by producing scripts based on documentary research and “real” stories, told by “real” people. While the work produced within theatre should reflect society, artistic expressiveness is often surreal and fantastic. In this capacity theatre is ascribed an almost “magical” function in moving publics and dissolving unwanted boundaries.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The task is twofold. I start by trying to trace and describe systems of values and presuppositions underpinning multicultural theatre projects in Sweden. I then explore how such projects are launched, carried through and realized on a concrete empirical level. The observation was carried out primarily in 2006, in the setting of two theatre projects. One of them was a role play about refugees, A Journey Unlike any Other. The purpose of the project is to make teenagers understanding and sympathetic to the plights of refugees and immigrants. The other one was a version of the classical drama, Hamlet, transposed into a contemporary urban setting as Mohamlet. The play is an attempt to reach a new audience by placing it in a multicultural milieu; a falafel-restaurant reminiscent of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. These two productions are on opposit ends of the wide spectrum of late modern theatre dealing with multicultural topics.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Theatre is thus referred to, in one instance, as key, and in another as a closed door. It is at one and the same time portrayed as a solution and as a problem. My aim is to articulate, to illustrate, and to explain this duality and the processes in which it inheres, both within and beyond the confines of theatre performances and settings.}},
author = {{Wittrock, Hanna}},
isbn = {{97-7267-332-X}},
issn = {{1101-9948}},
keywords = {{Teater; rollspel; institutionsteater; teaterantropologi; magiskt tänkande; performance; modebaserad diskursanalys; senmodern Hermeskultur}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund University}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Monographs in Social Anthropology}},
title = {{Säg inte mötesplats! : Teater och integration i ord och handling}},
volume = {{21}},
year = {{2011}},
}