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Theatre Research in the Nordic Countries (2000–2008)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2009

WILLMAR SAUTER
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Abstract

This overview of theatre research in the Nordic countries presents some characteristic features that can be traced in recent scholarly publications. After explaining what ‘Nordic’ means in this context, the first section describes the marks that the general theoretical development in the field has made among notable Nordic scholars, especially in research on contemporary performances. ‘Artistic research’ is the Scandinavian equivalent to ‘practice as research’ and this branch of research has recently advanced very quickly and along various organizational lines. The writing of theatre history, especially on the controversial issues of the 1930s and 1940s, are investigated in the next section. Finally, the establishment of national theatre histories has proved to be highly political, especially in Sweden, where three histories of Swedish theatre have been published in four years. In conclusion, the author expresses his optimistic view of the future of theatre studies in the Nordic countries.

Type
Review Article
Information
Theatre Research International , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , March 2009 , pp. 66 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © International Federation for Theatre Research 2009

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References

NOTES

1 Gint, Dirk, Playing Activists and Dancing Anarchists: Men and Masculinity in Cultural Performances in Contemporary Sweden (Stockholm: STUTS, 2007)Google Scholar.

2 See Tiina Rosenberg's own book on the director Suzanne Osten, Besvärliga människor (2004) and her forthcoming publication on Zarah Leander.

3 Ann-Soefie Bárány's drama Baby Drama was performed at Unga Klara Theatre in Stockholm in January 2006.

4 All these theories are neatly packaged in Auslander, Philip's student guide Theory for Performance Studies (Oxford and New York: Routledge, 2008)Google Scholar.

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10 Both are represented in the NTS, 19 (2007): Ola Johansson, ‘Eschatological Field Notes: Community Theatre, AIDS, and the Fate of Informant D. in Ilemera, Tanzania’, pp. 45–55; and Karen Vedel, ‘World Dance, Trance Dance: A Contexualized Look at Vincent Mantzoes's Solo in Men-Jaro’, pp. 91–9. See also Johansson, Ola, ‘The Lives and Deaths of Zakia: How AIDS Changed African Community Theatre and Vice Versa’, Theatre Research International, 32, 1 (2007), 85–100CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 The two books by Davis, Tracy C. and Postlewait, Thomas (eds.), Theatricality (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)Google Scholar; and Loxley, James, Performativity (London and New York: Routledge, 2007)CrossRefGoogle Scholar have been especially useful, as well as the special issue of SubStance #98/99, 2002, on ‘Theatricality’, under the editorship of Josette Féral.

12 Peripeti, 6 (2006) and 7 (2007), under the editorship of Erik Exe Christoffersen and Torunn Kjölner.

13 The model was first presented in Sauter, Willmar, Understanding Theatre: Performance Analysis in Theory and practice (Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell International, 1995)Google Scholar (together with Jacqueline Martin), and modified in Sauter, Willmar, The Theatrical Event: Dynamics of Performance and Perception (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2000)Google Scholar. Another step was taken in the introduction to Cremona, Vicki Ann et al. , eds., Theatrical Events: Borders, Dynamics, Frames (Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi, 2004)Google Scholar.

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17 A flattering document of this increasing interest is the little volume that I received as a birthday present, called Willmar in the World: Young Scholars Exploring the Theatrical Event, edited by Yael Feiler, Rikard Hoogland & Kalle Westerling (Stockholm: Theatre and Dance Studies, 2007).

18 Sauter, Willmar, Eventness: A Concept of the Theatrical Event (Stockholm: STUTS, 2006) (2nd edn published 2008)Google Scholar.

19 Here I am referring to Auslander, Philip's Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture (London and New York: Routledge, 1999)Google Scholar.

20 I am especially thinking of two as yet unpublished Danish dissertations by Solveig Gade and Anne Ring Petersen.

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23 For a short presentation of the methodology see Feiler, Y., ‘Cultural Context and Contextual Theatricality: Audience Survey and the Theatrical Event’, Nordic Theatre Studies, 19 (2007), pp. 81–9Google Scholar.

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25 This is a translation of the subtitle of her book: Helander, Karin, Från sagospel till barntragedi. Pedagogik, förströelse och konst I 1900-talets svenska barnteater (Stockholm: Carlssons, 1998)Google Scholar.

26 Aston, Elaine, ‘Knowing Differently: “Practice as Research” and the Women's Writing for Performance Project’, NTS, 19 (2007), pp. 9–17Google Scholar.

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30 Kopivunen, Anu, Performative Histories, Foundational Fictions: Gender and Sexuality in Niskavuori Film (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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32 See also Korsberg, Hanna, ‘History without a Past: On the Significance of a Non-event and the Researcher's Position in History Writing’, Theatre Research International, 32, 1 (2007), 32–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

33 Wilmer, S. E., Writing and Rewriting National Theatre Histories (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2004)Google Scholar.

34 Rähesoo, Jaak, Estonian Theatre (Tallin: Estonian Theatre Union, 1999)Google Scholar.

35 Pirkko Koski, Finnish Theatre (Helsinki: Foreign Ministry, 1992) (published also in German and other languages). The play editions are: Wilmer, S. E., ed., Portraits of Courage: Plays by Finnish Women (Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1997)Google Scholar; Koski, Pirkko and Wilmer, Steve, eds., Stages of Chaos: The Drama of Post-war Finland (Helsinki: Finnish Literary Society, 2005)Google Scholar; Wilmer, S. E. and Koski, Pirkko, eds., Humour and Humanity: Contemporary Plays from Finland (Helsinki: Like, 2006)Google Scholar.

36 See Mikko-Olavi Seppälä's review in Swedish in Annex (Recensionsbilaga till Axess) hösten 2007, p. 28–31.

37 Thomas Postlewait and Charlotte Canning are presently preparing a volume that exactly addresses these central categories: archive, time, place, identity and narration. See also Munslow, Alun, Deconstructing History (London and New York: Routledge, 1997)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Jenkins, Keith, Why History? Ethics and Postmodernity (London and New York: Routledge, 1999)Google Scholar.