Beyond aesthetics

Beyond Aesthetics reflects a commitment to explore the possible interactions and interfaces of performance, literary and media studies outside the paradigm of traditional aesthetic concerns. The topics explored and the methodologies used in the present volume are exceptionally varied. Yet, linking all the papers is a concern with wider cultural processes. The engagement with cultural studies and its many areas of interest has proven to be the most useful disciplinary frame in which to operate. The papers here presented fall into three main areas of interest. The first is theatre’s rapid change in response to what can be called media culture. Theatrical performances can still be just plays performed on box sets, but increasingly they are not. A second major emphasis is on performance in its widest application. The move towards performance studies over the past decade has created a wider range of interests within theatre and media, which is reflected here. A third group of papers can be subsumed under the broad heading of intercultural performance. Neither performance nor media are regarded as purely aesthetic or technical in their constitution but as always contingent on cultural forces. In this regard Beyond Aesthetics presents an inspiring overview over a full range of highly innovative approaches and projects in the field of performance, media, and cultural studies.