Mapping Multimodal Performance Studies

This book is a first attempt to map the broad context of performance studies from a multimodal perspective. It collects original research on traditional performing arts (theatre, dance, opera), live (durational performance) and mediated/recorded performances (films, television shows), as well as performative discursive practices on social media by adopting several theories and methodologies all dealing with the notion of multimodality. As a mostly dynamic and also interactive environment for various text types and genres, the context of performance studies provides many opportunities to produce meaning verbally and non-verbally. All chapters in this book develop frameworks for the analysis of performance-related events and activities and explore empirical case studies in a range of different ages and cultures. A further focus lies on the communicative strategies deployed by different communities of practice, taking into account processes of production, distribution, and consumption of such texts in diverse spatial and temporal contexts.

This book considers the semiotics practices at play in the performing arts and applies multimodal approaches commonly used in fields such as linguistics and literary theory to investigate and unpack the different semiotic resources that emerge from its various forms. The performing arts constitute dynamic and interactive environments that produce meaning on multiple levels, both in the forms themselves, but also within them, such as through the interactions in the actual performances, mise-en-scéne, lighting, music, and audience engagement, thereby providing a rich resource of theoretical avenues to explore through a multimodal approach. The first part of the volume details a number of theoretical and analytical frameworks, including social semotics, systemic functional theory, and pragmatics, and applies them to case studies taken from different performing arts, including dance; music, video, and film; and art exhibitions. The second part of the book looks at these different frameworks in practice in a number of sociocultural contexts, including explorations of 360 immersive video experiences in education, gender and sexuality in performance, and discursive performances about death. Combining a rigorous engagement with theoretical issues and empirical analyses of up-to-date case studies from a variety of performing arts, this book is an essential resource for scholars and researchers in multimodality, linguistics, performing arts, sociosemiotic studies, and communication.