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Bodily Education in Modernist Culture - Freedom and Commodification

Sjöström, Kent LU (2015) In Theatre, Dance and Performance Training p.72-84
Abstract
The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion about the actor’s body and bodily training. From a critical point of view, phenomena like orientalism, rural escapism, and the amount of bodily techniques in actors’ training in the second half of the twentieth century are juxtaposed with rhetoric about bodily freedom and a consumerism in line with tendencies in the rest of society. The discourse... (More)
The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion about the actor’s body and bodily training. From a critical point of view, phenomena like orientalism, rural escapism, and the amount of bodily techniques in actors’ training in the second half of the twentieth century are juxtaposed with rhetoric about bodily freedom and a consumerism in line with tendencies in the rest of society. The discourse surrounding the concept of bodily
freedom can be seen as a disciplinary project anda commodificationof the body in the present-day marketplace. A contemporary discussion about identities – such as constructions, authenticity, and post-colonialism – might influence actors’ education and make it more individualised, but also increase awareness of values and power relations that are at stake when working with different bodily techniques in such education.
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Abstract (Swedish)
The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion about the actor’s body and bodily training. From a critical point of view, phenomena like orientalism, rural escapism, and the amount of bodily techniques in actors’ training in the second half of the twentieth century are juxtaposed with rhetoric about bodily freedom and a consumerism in line with tendencies in the rest of society. The discourse... (More)
The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion about the actor’s body and bodily training. From a critical point of view, phenomena like orientalism, rural escapism, and the amount of bodily techniques in actors’ training in the second half of the twentieth century are juxtaposed with rhetoric about bodily freedom and a consumerism in line with tendencies in the rest of society. The discourse surrounding the concept of bodily
freedom can be seen as a disciplinary project anda commodificationof the body in the present-day marketplace. A contemporary discussion about identities – such as constructions, authenticity, and post-colonialism – might influence actors’ education and make it more individualised, but also increase awareness of values and power relations that are at stake when working with different bodily techniques in such education.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
actor's training, bodily techniques, bodily discourses, orientalism, avant-garde, modernism
in
Theatre, Dance and Performance Training
pages
72 - 84
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:84926023810
ISSN
1944-3927
DOI
10.1080/19443927.2014.985895
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f7a72cff-00d8-4bd7-959b-520bfbe0211f
alternative location
https://www.academia.edu/28477170/Bodily_education_in_modernist_culture_freedom_and_commodification
date added to LUP
2016-12-07 16:31:01
date last changed
2022-01-30 08:16:42
@article{f7a72cff-00d8-4bd7-959b-520bfbe0211f,
  abstract     = {{The actor’s practice and bodily training during the twentieth century are specifically related not only to different bodily techniques, but also to language, modern society, and the concept of freedom. Nationalism, anti-intellectualism, bodily and vitalistic purism, and a sceptical distance from the modern project at the beginning of the twentieth century serve as a starting point for a discussion about the actor’s body and bodily training. From a critical point of view, phenomena like orientalism, rural escapism, and the amount of bodily techniques in actors’ training in the second half of the twentieth century are juxtaposed with rhetoric about bodily freedom and a consumerism in line with tendencies in the rest of society. The discourse surrounding the concept of bodily <br/>freedom can be seen as a disciplinary project anda commodificationof the body in the present-day marketplace. A contemporary discussion about identities – such as constructions, authenticity, and post-colonialism – might influence actors’ education and make it more individualised, but also increase awareness of values and power relations that are at stake when working with different bodily techniques in such education.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Sjöström, Kent}},
  issn         = {{1944-3927}},
  keywords     = {{actor's training, bodily techniques, bodily discourses, orientalism, avant-garde, modernism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{72--84}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Theatre, Dance and Performance Training}},
  title        = {{Bodily Education in Modernist Culture - Freedom and Commodification}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19443927.2014.985895}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/19443927.2014.985895}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}