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Modelling the World through Play: An Exploration in Repurposing, Representation, and History-Writing

Drabek, Pavel

Authors



Contributors

Tracy C. Davis
Editor

Peter W. Marx
Editor

Abstract

Models occupy a central role in the history of theatre and performance. In contrast to distinctions between models of something that exists and models for some prospective reality, this chapter argues that shifting between models-of and models-for is an inherent quality of a model as an autonomous form. In other words, the repurposing of models is part and parcel of their function. Three categories of models are considered: 1) material models as objects of theatre and performance historiography (puppets, maquettes, mannequins, stage sets); 2) medial models, which sit on a precarious border between materiality and metaphysics (photography, sketches, documents, scripts); and 3) immaterial or conceptual models that historiography relies upon to practise its purpose (genres, masks, stage figures, patterns of behaviour). A special case of immaterial models are historiographic ones: master narratives, personality profiles, formations of communities, the relational portrait, or performance reception. Rather than tools, models are approached as heuristic and speculative devices that, by means of their inherent playful repurposing, enable perspectives and imaginary representations that may eventually transcend understanding.

Citation

Drabek, P. (2020). Modelling the World through Play: An Exploration in Repurposing, Representation, and History-Writing. In T. C. Davis, & P. W. Marx (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance Historiography (ed. Tracy C. Davis and Peter W. Marx)) (397-417). Taylor & Francis (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351271721

Online Publication Date Aug 4, 2020
Publication Date Aug 4, 2020
Deposit Date Jan 26, 2021
Publicly Available Date Feb 5, 2022
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Pages 397-417
Series Title Routledge Companion
Book Title The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance Historiography (ed. Tracy C. Davis and Peter W. Marx))
Chapter Number 20
ISBN 9781138575516
DOI https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351271721
Keywords Theatre; Performance; Models; Historiography; Heterotelic; Puppets; Theatre theory
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3701929
Publisher URL https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Theatre-and-Performance-Historiography/Davis-Marx/p/book/9781138575516
Contract Date Dec 19, 2019

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©2020 The author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder






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