Performance Studies: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Action and Identity

Performance studies is a dynamic, interdisciplinary academic field that employs performance both as a skill to be developed and as a critical lens to analyze the world. Its broad definition of "performance" encompasses a vast array of human activities, from artistic and aesthetic events like concerts and theater to sporting competitions, social rituals, political ceremonies, and even the daily enactment of identity and social roles.

Drawing on theories and methods from anthropology, sociology, literary theory, and communication studies, the field often utilizes practice-led research, integrating creative approaches like auto-ethnography and verbatim theater with traditional academic methods. Key scholars like Richard Schechner categorize performance into "artistic" (e.g., plays, poetry) and "cultural" (e.g., parades, the performance of gender), viewing it as a process, a mode of transmission, and a means of intervening in the world.

While sometimes described as an "emerging" or "post-discipline" due to its inherent instability, performance studies traces its earliest academic roots to the 18th-century Elocution Movement. Influential figures like Thomas Sheridan (whose Lectures on Elocution date to 1762) and John Walker (author of Elements of Elocution, 1781) were instrumental in developing a structured approach to public speech delivery, focusing on diction, gestures, and voice control.