Jo Averill-Snell,

javerill@poly.usf.edu

 

Pathfinder to Feminist and Womanist Performance Art at the USF Tampa Library

 

Introduction and Scope

 

Performance art is an interstitial art form that can combine theater, dance/movement, and other forms of performance with visual art, installation art pieces, multimedia work, and so on. As a movement, it is relatively young, having emerged in the 1970s. Solo work is quite common, although collaborative pieces are not unknown. Feminist and womanist performance artists bring their political and philosophical positions into their work, foregrounding the personal/political within their performances.

 

Performance artist
 Mlle Bourgeoise Noire
and her Master of Ceremonies

(from http://www.moca.org/wack/)
 
Critical study of feminist and womanist necessarily crosses boundaries between subjects, as the art form itself does. In order to adequately cover the information about feminist and womanist performance art available at the USF Tampa Library, the researcher will need to approach the topic through study within sources dedicated to feminism/womanism, fine art, and performance. This pathfinder is aimed at undergraduate students interested in the theoretical underpinnings and contemporary practice of feminist and womanist performance art, along with a introduction to some of the most established artists and scholars of the field.

 

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Subject Headings and Browsing Areas

 

The following Library of Congress subject headings describe the main body of work on feminist and womanist performance art. Each subject area is associated with a corresponding range of call numbers. Researchers who wish to browse the shelves for likely works on feminst/womanist performance art may find fertile ground in these areas.

 

 

 

                        within Drama, see especially:

 

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Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: Performance-Oriented Sources Which Cover Feminism

 

·        Atkins, R. (1997). Artspeak : a guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1945 to the present. New York : Abbeville Press Publishers. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- N6490 .A87 1997

More than 115 entries clearly explain the who, what, when, and where of art since 1945. Some entries deal with concepts, such as formalism, multiculturalism, and the picture plane; some discuss specific movements, such as Abstract Expressionism and Fluxus; some describe various ways of making art, such as collage, performance, and video. Together they provide an invaluable key to the specialized, often baffling vocabulary so often used in today's art world.

·        Kennedy, D. (2003). The Oxford encyclopedia of theatre and performance. Oxford : Oxford University Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN2035 .O92 2003

This encyclopedia provides authoritative and up-to-date information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments in London, Paris, New York, and around the globe. In addition to performances in playhouses, it covers dance, opera, radio, film, television, and popular performance, including carnivals, circus, and public executions. Entries range from short definitions of terms to lengthy considerations of genres and movements, such as feminism and psychoanalytic criticism.

 

·        Moore, F. and Varchaver, M. (1999). Dictionary of the performing arts. Chicago, Ill. : Contemporary Books. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN1579 .M66 1999

This unique dictionary defines the words used on the stage by those that perform and work on and around it. Includes cross-disciplinary, user-friendly definitions for more than 6,700 terms drawn from eight disciplines.

 

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: Feminist-Oriented Sources Which Cover Performance

 

·        Code, L. (Ed.) (2000). Encyclopedia of feminist theories. London ; New York : Routledge. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- HQ1190 .E63 2000

The path-breaking Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories is an accessible, multidisciplinary insight into the complex field of feminist thought. The Encyclopedia contains over 500 authoritative entries and includes clear, concise and provocative explanations of key themes and ideas. Each entry contains cross references and a bibliographic guide to further reading.

·        Gamble, S. (Ed.) (2000). The Routledge critical dictionary of feminism and postfeminism. New York : Routledge. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Annex -- HQ1115 .R68 2000

The entries of the Routledge Critical Dictionary of Feminism and Postfeminism cover the major individuals and issues essential to an understanding both of feminism's roots and of the trends that are shaping its future.

·        Humm, M. (1990). The dictionary of feminist theory. Columbus : Ohio State University Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Annex -- HQ1115 .H86 1990

This dictionary defines many key terms and theories pertaining to feminist theory, including concepts such as radical feminism, socialist feminism, androgyny, heterosexuality, and women's studies. Biographical entries for prominent feminist theorists, writers, and artists are presented, including Adrienne Rich, Mary Daly, Susan Griffin, Kate Millett, Juliet Mitchell, Shulamith Firestone, Nancy Chodorow, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Helene Cixous, and more.

 

·        Kramarae, C. and Treichler, P. A. (1985).  A feminist dictionary. London ; Boston : Pandora Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Annex -- HQ1115 .K73 1985

This colorful and wealthy dictionary examines, explains and redefines many ideas and terms pertaining to women and patriarchal society. Each word is placed within the context of its evolving meaning-dating back to its origin and weaving through the years into its present day connotation. Cheris Kramarae and Paula A. Treichler have compiled a reference resource filled with fascinating information contributed by many women.

 

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Biographical Sources

·        Otfinoski, S. (2003). African Americans in the performing arts. New York, NY : Facts on File, Inc. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN2286 .O88 2003

This work profiles African Americans, from the early years to the present day, who have built successful careers in the performing arts.

 

·        Robinson, A. M.; Roberts, V. M.; and Barranger, M. S. (Eds.) (1989). Notable women in the American theatre : a biographical dictionary. New York : Greenwood Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN2285 .N65 1989

This biographical dictionary alphabetically examines some 300 notable women who had distinguished careers in the American theatre. Not simply a list of names and activities, the volume--to the extent possible--narrates and evaluates the women's lives and accomplishments providing not only relevant biographical information and bibliographical materials but also describing the women's professional contributions. In representing the careers of theatre artists from actors, directors, and designers, to choreographers, managers, playwrights, educators, critics, variety performers, and agents, this first reference of its kind devoted exclusively to women also serves as a unique survey of the history of American theatre.

 

·        Sonneborn, L. (2002). A to Z of American women in the performing arts. New York : Facts on File, Inc. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN2286.8 .S66 2002

Covering Gracie Allen to Tammy Wynette, the author of A to Z of American Women in the Visual Arts showcases 150 notable US performers--many of whom serve(d) as female role models. Entries include the woman's basic biographical data and contributions as an artist. The book includes some 50 b&w photos, recommended reading and recorded performances, sources, and entries by genre and year of birth.

 

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Bibliographies, Indexes, and Abstracts

·        Cairney, J. (2001). Solo performers : an international registry, 1770-2000. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Collection -- PN1936 .C35 2001

This work presents a complete survey of solo theater from its beginnings in the 18th century in the form of dramatic biographies of historical figures to the 21st century performers who stage intimate conversation-type dramas. A major feature of the work is the detailed registry that provides information on many hundreds of solo performers.

 

·        New York Public Library Research Libraries. (2007). Bibliographic guide to theatre arts.  Boston, G. K. Hall. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Reference Annex -- Z5785 .N56

The Bibliographic Guide to Theatre Arts is a catalog of the theatre and drama collections of the New York Public Library Research Libraries. This supplemental has been updated annually since 1975, and covers a broad spectrum of the theatre arts.

 

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Journals and Periodicals: Print

·        The Feminist art journal. Brooklyn, N.Y., Feminist Art Journal, inc.  USF LIBRARY--Tampa Periodicals -- N8354 .F4

The Feminist Art Journal is a semiannual publication that explores feminist theory and contemporary women's art practices.

 

·        Feminist media studies. Basingstoke, Hants : Taylor & Francis. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Periodicals -- P94.5.W65 F46

Feminist Media Studies provides a transdisciplinary, transnational forum for researchers pursuing feminist approaches to the field of media and communication studies, with attention to the historical, philosophical, cultural, social, political, and economic dimensions and analysis of sites including print and electronic media, film and the arts, and new media technologies.

·        PAJ : a journal of performance and art. Baltimore, MD : Johns Hopkins University Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Periodicals -- PN2000 .P47

 PAJ provides extended coverage of the visual arts (such as video, installations, photography, and multimedia performance), in addition to reviews of new works in theatre, dance, film, and opera. Issues include artists' writings, essays, interviews and dialogues, historical documentation, performance texts and plays, reports on performance abroad, and book reviews.

·        Text and performance quarterly : TPQ. Annandale, VA : Speech Communication Association. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Periodicals -- PN2 .L69

Text and Performance Quarterly invites scholarship that explores and advances the study of performance as a social, communicative practice; as a technology of representation and expression; and as a hermeneutics. Manuscripts addressing performance and the performative from a wide range of perspectives and methodologies, including the historical, rhetorical, feminist, ethnographic, psychological/psychoanalytic, political, and aesthetic are welcome. Likewise, all sites of performance from the classical stage to popular culture to the practices of everyday life, critically and interpretively engaged, are appropriate for consideration.

 

·        Women & performance. New York, NY : Women & Performance Project at the Dept. of Performance Studies, New York University/Tisch School of the Arts. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Periodicals -- PN1590.W64 W59

Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory is a peer-reviewed, triannual publication featuring scholarly essays on performance, dance, film, new media, and the performance of everyday life from interdisciplinary feminist perspectives. We encourage dialogue between varied fields of performance scholarship (performance studies; theater, dance, and music history and criticism; ethnography; cinema and cultural studies; queer and post-colonial theory), and explore critiques of race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, technology, and nation.

 

Journals and Periodicals: Digital

 

These digital serial publications are available as e-resources from the USF Tampa Library.

 

·        American Feminist

·        American Theatre

·        Applied Theatre Researcher

·        Bitch

·        Contemporary Theatre Review

·        Educational Theatre Journal

·        Feminist Media Studies

·        Hypatia

·        Journal of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

·        Latin American Theatre Review

·        New Theatre Quarterly

·        Performing Arts Journal

·        Platform : Postgraduate e-Journal of Theatre and Performing Arts

·        TCI

·        Theater

·        Theatre Journal

·        Theatre Notebook

·        Theatre Research International

·        Theatre Studies

·        Theatre Survey

·        Theatre Topics

·        Thirdspace : a Journal of Feminist Theory & Culture

 

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Electronic Databases

 

The following electronic databases, available through the USF Tampa Library, are particularly relevant sources for research in feminist and womanist performance art.

 

·        Academic Search Premiere

·        Alternative Press Index

·        Arts and Humanities Search

·        Art Full Text

·        ARTstor

·        Black Drama : 1850 to Present

·        International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance

·        International Index to the Performing Arts

·        JSTOR Performing Arts

·        New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

·        Play Index

·        Project Muse

 

 

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Selected Influential Texts

 

These texts represent a selection of anthologies and critical essay collections from the USF Tampa Libraries circulating collection. These seminal works are particularly important in the field.

·        Case, S. (ed.) (1990). Performing feminisms : feminist critical theory and theatre. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- PN1590.W64 P4 1990

Performing Feminisms is the first book to bring together theoretical works on the theater written from a feminist perspective. This pioneering work uses feminist critical theory, as it has been applied to fiction and the cinema, to explore dramatic texts and performances. This is a valuable, provoking, important addition to any theatre scholar or practitioner's library.

 

·        Diamond, E. (ed.) (1996). Performance and cultural politics. London ; New York : Routledge. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- NX180.S6 P443 1996.

Performance and Cultural Politics gathers together some of the foremost scholars of performance studies to examine the historical and cultural territories of performance. "Culture" in the twentieth century, says ethnographer James Clifford, "is no longer an object to be described, neither is it a unified corpus of symbols and meanings that can be definitively interpreted. Culture is contested, temporal, emergent." The essays in this volume explore performance--encompassing theater, performance art, dance, and music--as a vital component of this hybrid, contested culture. The contributors to this landmark volume foucs on topics varying from Oscar Wilde to Eric Clapton; the Rose Theatre to the U.S. holocaust museums. They provide new interpretations of performance and its relation to issues of history, memory, mourning, racism, homophobia, and performativity.

 

·        Goodman, L. and de Gay, J. (eds.) (1998). The Routledge reader in gender and performance. London ; New York : Routledge. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- PN1590.W64 R68 1998

The Routledge Reader in Gender and Performance blends some of the most influential and widely-known work on gender and performing arts with exciting and provocative new writings in the field. A must for anyone interested in theatre and performance art, this collection addresses complex questions about gender, from the history of women's involvement in the theatre to modern preoccupations with the body. Some issues covered include women's stage work, women's bodies on stage, feminist approaches, comparative perspectives, women's status in the theater, and the reception and reviewing of women's dramatic work.

·        Harris, G. (1999). Staging femininities : performance and performativity. Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press and St. Martin's Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- PN2270.F45 H37 1999

Staging Femininities focuses on the work of performance artists Rose English, Bobby Baker and Annie Sprinkle in order to explicate and examine some of the most influential thinking on the politics of identity. This is one of the first books in this field to examine the productive differences as well as the useful connections between British and North American female performance traditions, between feminist theories of performance practices and, most significantly, between theatrical performance and performativity.

 

·        Hart, L. and Phelan, P. (eds.) (1993). Acting out : feminist performances. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- PN1590.W64 A38 1993

The first book-length introduction to and critical analysis of contemporary feminist performance, from Madonna to Karen Finley to Cherrie Moraga. This collection of essays breaks new ground in the study of feminist theater and performance art. Includes bibliographical references.

 

·        Jones, A. and Stephenson, A. (eds.) (1999). Performing the body/performing the text. London ; New York : Routledge. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- N6494.B63 P47 1999

Since the 1960s, visual art practices--from body art to minimalism--have taken contemporary art outside the museum and gallery by embracing theatricality and performance and exploding the boundaries set by traditional art criticism. Such practices prompt us to reassess our ways of contructing meaning from art, making us receptive to the element of performance both in the processes of art production, and in the act of interpretation itself. Performing the Body/Performing the Textexplores the new performativity in art theory and practice, examining ways of rethinking interpretive processes in visual culture. This collection undertakes two parallel projects: exploring art practices which perform the subject, and examining ways in which modes of performativity in contemporary art offers new models for interpreting artworks.

 

·        Taylor D. and Villegas, J. (eds.) (1994). Negotiating performance : gender, sexuality, and theatricality in Latin/o America. Durham : Duke University Press. USF LIBRARY--Tampa Circulating Collection -- PN2309 .N45 1994

In Negotiating Performance, major scholars and practitioners of the theatrical arts consider the diversity of Latin American and U. S. Latino performance: indigenous theater, performance art, living installations, carnival, public demonstrations, and gender acts such as transvestism. By redefining performance to include such events as Mayan and AIDS theater, the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, and Argentinean drag culture, this energetic volume discusses the dynamics of Latino/a identity politics and the sometimes discordant intersection of gender, sexuality, and nationalisms.

 

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