This course introduces the anthropology of performance. The anthropology of performance is a branch of anthropology that emerged in the 1970s at the intersection of folklore studies, the ethnography of speaking and performance studies. Central to the anthropology of performance is its emphasis on process and action as opposed to symbolic content and textual analysis. Through cross-cultural examples, we will learn how performance can be used as a frame with which to analyze society. We will study a number of ethnographic examples of ritual drama, trance, and dance in order to understand both what these genres communicate about the societies in which they occur and what is created in the process of enacting these ritual performances. We will consider both how these genres reinforce certain societal values and how they may be used to affect the socio-political reality.
