Delivery Date: 17.09.2019 | lecturer: Dr. Pavlos Kontouriotis

During this session we will be tracing the history of the word performativity and trying to discover the role of language. Some of the topics we will discuss are:

What is the difference between descriptive and performative ? / Does this distinction hold? / What is a felicitous and infelicitous performance? / What is the difference between describing and performing, representing and presenting ? / What is the relation between reality and fiction? / So far in your reading, how can you relate to the word performative as coined by Austin to the way it is usually used in your community?

Introductory Reading

Schechner, R. (2002). Performance studies: An introduction. London: Routledge. pp. 123 -168 | summary: https://korinakordova.wordpress.com/performance-studies-an-introduction-richard-schechner-2/

Compulsory Reading

Austin, J. (1962). How to do things with words. O xford University Press: London, pp.1-38 & 83-131 | summary: https://korinakordova.wordpress.com/how-to-do-things-with-words-j-l-austin/

Keywords and names: https://korinakordova.wordpress.com/lecture-2-keywords-and-names/

Recommended Reading

Booth, Wayne C. ([1961] 1983). The Rhetoric of Fiction. Chicago: U of Chicago P.