Allen-Paisant, J orcid.org/0000-0002-5705-0522 (2021) Body and Gesture in Derek Walcott’s Theatre. New Theatre Quarterly, 37 (1). pp. 42-57. ISSN 0266-464X
Abstract
Reflecting on Derek Walcott’s early relationship with movement, dance and ritual, this article sheds light on the centrality of embodied memory in Walcott’s work for the stage and reflects on the relationship between memory and materiality in his epistemology of performance. Walcott’s ideas shaped his approach to dramaturgy in the late 1950s and position his work in relation to global debates around materialism (Brecht) and ritualism (Grotowski) in the theatre. A discussion of two plays, Dream on Monkey Mountain and Pantomime, examines the use of gestural language in specific performances of each. Such an approach demonstrates that the importance of embodied memory, as reflected in the staging of these plays, relates to certain Afro-Caribbean belief systems, which have exerted much influence on Walcott’s work. The article also emphasizes how Walcott’s theatre functions as a decolonial praxis that fosters the emergence of empowered subjectivities and Africanist modes of humanness that challenge the cultural order of colonialism. Jason Allen-Paisant is a lecturer in Caribbean Poetics and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds, and Director of the Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies. He is currently at work on the monograph Staging Black Futures in the Twenty-First Century.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Cambridge University Press 2021. This is an author produced version of an article published in New Theatre Quarterly. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | embodiment; ritual; healing; Caribbean; African diaspora; dance; movement; memory; decolonization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Leverhulme Trust ECF-2016-536 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Aug 2020 14:30 |
Last Modified: | 26 Mar 2021 11:57 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0266464X20000780 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:164784 |