What Role could Presence Play in the Practices of Academia? On the Performativity of Theory in the Context of Performance Philosophy

Abstract

The following dialogue is the result of an encounter between Alice Lagaay, philosophy professor and co-founding convener of the Performance Philosophy network, and dramaturg and philosopher Anna Seitz. In this conversation they discuss various ways in which a performative lens can help to enhance the role of presence in the practices of research, teaching and learning at the university where standardized processes of linearization are increasingly becoming habitualised to negative effect.

The dialogue discusses the role presence could be permitted to play in academic situations of co-presence with others (in comparison to the importance of presence in artistic contexts). It ponders the extent to which conventional academic forms, quite apart from seeking to guarantee objectivity in theory, actually pre-determine, or in fact limit, the communicability of theoretical content. The conversation points to the need for a new dramaturgical attentiveness to the performativity of theory and calls for an innovative approach to the formats in which the questions and results concerning various fields in the humanities could be presented and negotiated more successfully.

Le dialogue thématise le rôle que pourrait jouer la présence dans des situations académiques de co-présence avec d’autres (par rapport à l’importance de la présence dans des contextes artistiques). Il s’interroge sur la mesure dans laquelle, au-delà d’idéalement garantir l’objectivité théorique, les formes académiques conventionnelles ont tendance à déterminer ou même à limiter réellement la transmissibilité de contenu théorique. La conversation souligne la nécessité d’une nouvelle approche dramaturgique par rapport à la performativité de la théorie et appelle à un développement de sensibilités pour de nouveaux formats alternatifs dans lesquels les résultats et les questions de divers domaines des sciences humaines pourraient être présentés et négociés avec plus de succès.

O diálogo discute o papel desempenhado pela presença em situações acadêmicas de copresença com outras pessoas (em comparação com a importância da presença em contextos artísticos). Questiona a medida em que as formas acadêmicas convencionais, para além de buscar garantir a objetividade teórica, na verdade pré-determinam ou, de fato, limitam a transmissibilidade do conteúdo teórico. A conversa aponta para a necessidade de uma nova atenção dramatúrgica à performatividade da teoria, e apela por uma abordagem inovadora aos formatos como as perguntas e os resultados referentes aos diversos campos nas humanidades poderiam ser apresentados e negociados com maior sucesso.