Deadline: Tuesday 16 April 2019
“Dispossession: Agency, Ecology and Theatrical Reality”
In Ursula Le Guin’s 1974 novel The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, children are educated to engage only with what interests others; the opposite is considered self-indulgence, condemned as “egoizing”. The disowning of any idea of the self is considered a virtue, as is the ability to speak the language of others. Le Guin’s novel fictionalises a common narrative in processes of 20th and early 21st century art: the withdrawal of the self. In relation to concurrent processes that reclaim agency for those who are already dispossessed, that call for the legitimisation of systematically marginalised voices, is the withdrawal of the self merely a privilege? How might wilful dispossession and agency be related through difference, as interconnected transitions of power, in such a way that reveals theatricality in the construction of reality? Theatre and performance foreground ways to unlearn known frameworks of thought, and modes of relation, to envision alternative modalities of being in the world. Yet at the same time, theatre and performance still provide some framework for agencies prone to singularity to come to the fore. As both a mode of understanding relation itself and a description of relations beyond the human, how does ecology exacerbate these tensions by challenging the value of human agency? When antagonism becomes the dominant mode of governmentality, how might dispossession and agency recompose urgent questions around theatricality and reality, not only in theatre, performance and philosophy, but also in the public and political spheres?SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
Please send a 300-word (max.) proposal and a short biography in a Word document via email. Please also include precise details of your resourcing needs, for example, any audio-visual technology, or a particular type of space (e.g. drama studio) that you will need to make your presentation. Email abstracts and information to the Working Group convenors, Fred Dalmasso, Daniela Perazzo Domm and Nik Wakefield, at philosophy@tapra.org. The deadline for the submission of proposals is Tuesday 16th April 2019. Early Career Researchers Bursary Scheme:If you are an Early Career Researcher, then you are eligible to be considered for a TaPRA ECR Bursary. Please follow this link for more information, and please indicate on your proposal whether you fit the criteria and wish to be considered for the bursary scheme: http://tapra.org/bursaries/ Postgraduate Bursary Scheme:There will be a separate call for PG Bursaries later in the year, but please do indicate in your proposal whether you are planning on applying to the scheme.Please note: only one proposal may be submitted for a TaPRA event. It is not permitted to submit multiple proposals or submit the same proposal to several Calls for Participation. All presenters must be TaPRA members, i.e. registered for the event; this includes presentations given by Skype or other media broadcast even where the presenter may not physically attend the event venue.