Performance Theories
Within ‘Autobiography and Performance’ (2008) Heddon describes autobiographical performance as ‘the politicisation of the personal in the public domain’ which looks into the reading and contextualisation of the autobiographical and how it can shift according to the audience watching.
I used the ideas of Heddon's 'Politics (of self)' to explore my own autobiographical performance as not only a means of telling my story but also a way of understanding how society's perception of topics such as Autism and Disability would change an audience's reading of my work. This can be interesting and allow wider readings and cultural understanding to start shifting the work. I also wanted to understand this from a place of recognising that even though my work is autobiographical, it will also hold political messages and readings for an audience, as I will always be standing in my placement as a white, British AFAB. It is hard to separate the topic of disability and political movements, especially around the rejection of trying to understand invisible disabilities that is happening right now from the current government. Every time we speak out truth, it’s shifted to be seen as political so we might as well create work that can enhance understanding and break myths.
Heddon also looks at the line walked by autobiographical performers between self and performative self. This is where the work is being pushed to be purposefully provoking in the current political climate; how theatre can be true and authentic but also enhanced and shifted therefore losing the rawness and honesty of the work.
By making my work now, it is coinciding with the Autism Pride movement - a campaign aiming to shift ideas of Autism ‘acceptance’ towards the titular concept of pride.
Autism Pride was especially impactful for community voices, because in order for society to start to change their perspective of Autism there needed to be a bigger shift into not just accepting who we were but being active and loud in being proud of who we are. My work will always be intertwined with Autism Pride, as it challenges problematic beliefs, such as the original ‘puzzle piece’ which was designed by Autism Speaks, a problematic and damaging organisation claiming Autism activism, and using instead the replacement symbol of the ‘rainbow infinity’ sign.
Alongside Heddon, Erving Goffman’s theories have been integrated in my work for the past two years, specifically looking into his frame analysis and the idea of ‘keying’. ‘Keying’, is the idea of using social conventions and deliberately disrupting them for effect, for example the use of sarcasm; using the shifting tone to imply what you’re saying is not what you mean. This is explained by Goffman as ‘the set of conventions by which a given activity, one already meaningful in terms of some primary framework, is transformed into something patterned on this activity but seen by the participants to be something quite else’ (p. 43-44). It’s the idea of shifting what an audience understands as the social conversion, and those certain behaviours that would fit in the contextual frame. The reason Goffman’s frame analysis is interesting within my research is the ableist view that keying sits on : ‘[k]eyed frames are liable to fall when they are based on ambiguity’ (p.599). If the whole framework is based on the audience recognising and understanding social cues picking up on emotional subtlety, then this cuts off an audience with processing disorders such as Autism. This analysis was not made, or considered for a neurodiverse audience.
I used this framework in my project to target a wider range of audience members with the same message. For example, in the spoken projects (podcast and video), I could use sarcasm, tone and body language to heavily imply the different meaning to what I was really saying. For someone with Autism this may be something they struggle with because of the often-literal thinking, meaning they could miss the point of what I was saying, so it could be used as a tool to speak to the neurotypicals watching. You will see the influence from Goffman not only in his ‘keying’ theories but also in using his ideas around ‘presentation of self’. Goffman started to recognise the different versions of yourself that would be present according to the situation. The understanding that ‘us with our family’ is usually different to who we are with friends, or at work. This is interesting when linking it to the idea of ‘masking’ and how this is far more of a conscious decision for those on the spectrum. This can also be looked at how society affects and shifts how we present and view ourselves to others and how society's understanding of Autism really does make a difference to how someone will not only perceive their disability but also their own identity.
I used the ideas of Heddon's 'Politics (of self)' to explore my own autobiographical performance as not only a means of telling my story but also a way of understanding how society's perception of topics such as Autism and Disability would change an audience's reading of my work. This can be interesting and allow wider readings and cultural understanding to start shifting the work. I also wanted to understand this from a place of recognising that even though my work is autobiographical, it will also hold political messages and readings for an audience, as I will always be standing in my placement as a white, British AFAB. It is hard to separate the topic of disability and political movements, especially around the rejection of trying to understand invisible disabilities that is happening right now from the current government. Every time we speak out truth, it’s shifted to be seen as political so we might as well create work that can enhance understanding and break myths.
Heddon also looks at the line walked by autobiographical performers between self and performative self. This is where the work is being pushed to be purposefully provoking in the current political climate; how theatre can be true and authentic but also enhanced and shifted therefore losing the rawness and honesty of the work.
By making my work now, it is coinciding with the Autism Pride movement - a campaign aiming to shift ideas of Autism ‘acceptance’ towards the titular concept of pride.
Autism Pride was especially impactful for community voices, because in order for society to start to change their perspective of Autism there needed to be a bigger shift into not just accepting who we were but being active and loud in being proud of who we are. My work will always be intertwined with Autism Pride, as it challenges problematic beliefs, such as the original ‘puzzle piece’ which was designed by Autism Speaks, a problematic and damaging organisation claiming Autism activism, and using instead the replacement symbol of the ‘rainbow infinity’ sign.
Alongside Heddon, Erving Goffman’s theories have been integrated in my work for the past two years, specifically looking into his frame analysis and the idea of ‘keying’. ‘Keying’, is the idea of using social conventions and deliberately disrupting them for effect, for example the use of sarcasm; using the shifting tone to imply what you’re saying is not what you mean. This is explained by Goffman as ‘the set of conventions by which a given activity, one already meaningful in terms of some primary framework, is transformed into something patterned on this activity but seen by the participants to be something quite else’ (p. 43-44). It’s the idea of shifting what an audience understands as the social conversion, and those certain behaviours that would fit in the contextual frame. The reason Goffman’s frame analysis is interesting within my research is the ableist view that keying sits on : ‘[k]eyed frames are liable to fall when they are based on ambiguity’ (p.599). If the whole framework is based on the audience recognising and understanding social cues picking up on emotional subtlety, then this cuts off an audience with processing disorders such as Autism. This analysis was not made, or considered for a neurodiverse audience.
I used this framework in my project to target a wider range of audience members with the same message. For example, in the spoken projects (podcast and video), I could use sarcasm, tone and body language to heavily imply the different meaning to what I was really saying. For someone with Autism this may be something they struggle with because of the often-literal thinking, meaning they could miss the point of what I was saying, so it could be used as a tool to speak to the neurotypicals watching. You will see the influence from Goffman not only in his ‘keying’ theories but also in using his ideas around ‘presentation of self’. Goffman started to recognise the different versions of yourself that would be present according to the situation. The understanding that ‘us with our family’ is usually different to who we are with friends, or at work. This is interesting when linking it to the idea of ‘masking’ and how this is far more of a conscious decision for those on the spectrum. This can also be looked at how society affects and shifts how we present and view ourselves to others and how society's understanding of Autism really does make a difference to how someone will not only perceive their disability but also their own identity.
Key Influences
Erving Goffman
Petra Kuppers
Deirdre Heddon
Graeae
DeafWest
Petra Kuppers
Deirdre Heddon
Graeae
DeafWest