Points of Contact: between Anthropology and Theater, Again

Abstract

A version of this essay appeared shortly after Victor Turner's death in Schechner's volume Between Theatre and Anthropology, with the title Points of Contact Between Anthropological and Theatrical Thought (Routledge, London and New York 1985, pp. 3-33). In this new version Schechner attempts to broaden Turner's ideas on liminality and does so by adding three more points of contact to the original list of six, a circumstance which allows him to analyze the performative qualities of the Paleolithic caveman, to reinterpret the ancient theory of Sanskrit performance in a contemporary key, to analyze the techniques through which Grotowski stimulates and brings alive the body-memory. In conclusion, referring to his notes detailing the seminar he co-led at the New York University in 1978 (with Turner, Erving Goffman, and Alexander Alland), Schechner shares memories of his collaboration with the Turners. The full version of this essay has been published in Experiential and Performative Anthropology in the Classroom, edited by Pamela R. Frese and Susan Brownell (Routledge, London and New York 2020, pp. 21-37).