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Ritual Liminality and Frame: What Did Barbosa See When He Saw the Theyyam?

Ritual Liminality and Frame: What Did Barbosa See When He Saw the Theyyam?

Authors :
Pereira, Filipe
Source :
Asian Theatre Journal. Fall2017, Vol. 34 Issue 2, p375-396. 22p. 2 Black and White Photographs.
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

An anecdotal account of a ritual from the south of India by a Portuguese adventurer from the early sixteenth century serves as pretext for a brief description of the cult of the theyyams from north Kerala in southwest India and raises questions on how we look at ritual performances. Liminality and frame, and associated notions, including flow and experience, as used by Victor Turner, provide clues for understanding an "anthropology of performance," but Turner did not give operative tools for implementation of his manifesto. Could some practical notions proposed by Grotowski be useful to the ethnography of the performance? Growtowski's concepts are applied to observations made during field research on theyyam. Findings are more outlined than concluded, but point toward some outcomes. Filipe Pereira is a performer and director who studied with Jerzy Grotowski at his Workcenter in Pontedera, Italy, from 1990 to 1992. He graduated with an MA in artistic studies from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, with a dissertation on performance as ritual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
07425457
Volume :
34
Issue :
2
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Asian Theatre Journal
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
124448121
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1353/atj.2017.0028