Ikoon en Medium: die toneelpop, masker en akteurmanipuleerder in Afrika-performances

[摘要] This study aims to describe the puppet, mask and actor as icons or mediums in performance inAfrica. The types of performances that will be discussed are religious performances, as well asliminal and hybrid performances. It is in the cases where the mask and puppet are used in religiousperformances, such as rituals, that the iconic characteristics or values are added to the mediumshipof the object. In such cases, these objects do not represent concepts/thoughts/persons/spirits; theyare these things in the space of the ritual. Matters pertaining to representation and acting arediscussed, since iconic representation does not allow for acting from the performer. The actor canfunction with, or independently, as an icon, while all these performance elements can function asmediums in a performance using acting or role-play. These different concepts are then applied bydiscussing the term performance. The different elements of a performance and its characteristics –such as the use of time, space, objects, productivity and rule of a performance – are explained. Thecreation of a performance through the use of restored behaviour as well as the possible results of aperformance in the sense of transportation and transformation as temporary or permanent changesin the performers or audience members is then addressed in the discussion. Different performancegenres such as rituals and social drama will be used to describe the function of the mask, puppet andactor in liminal and liminoid performances, and to show how these different performance objectsfunction as icons and/or mediums in these genres. Hybrid forms of performance that cannot beclassified as purely liminal or liminoid performances are also studied, since these types ofperformances are often found in contemporary performances in Africa. The production Tall Horseis used to apply performance theory to see how the different performance objects function inchanged context in a hybrid performance.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University