Censorship of the body in contemporary performance: aesthetics, politics and affections: comparative analysis Brazil/United States

• Grant number: 19/00485-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 15, 2019
• End date: October 14, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Theatre
• Principal Investigator: Ferdinando Martins
• Grantee: Ferdinando Martins
• Host Investigator: Diana Taylor
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: New York University, United States

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyze recent cases of censorship of the body in contemporary performances in Brazil. To that end, this study seeks resonance from similar performances presented in the framework of the activities of the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics at New York University, especially those presented by Regina José Galindo, Coco Fusko and Ron Athey. It takes as object the performances DNA de DAN, created and performed by Maikon K; La Bête, by de Wagner Schwartz; Pedra, by Regina José Galindo; and the collective creation Macaquinhos. It intends to show the relationship between affection, politics and sexuality in the construction of a conservative morality, the arbitrary choice of signifiers in censorial practice and the creation of abjections in the construction of otherness. It aims to characterize the performative construction of conservatism through its insertion in a circle of affections based, on the one hand, on the demonstration of political power and, on the other, on the denial of understanding sexuality as a historical, cultural and subjective construction. For this purpose, it establishes cartographic procedures for comparative analysis, disassembly and historical reconstruction. As a main theoretical reference, this research is guided by the archival and repertoire ideas employed by Diana Taylor in her analysis of cultural performances in the Americas. This reference allows an understanding of artistic performances and their intersections with political and censorial-conservative performances. In this sense, my project explores the reasons and the work plan which I will be developing as a visiting researcher at the Hemispheric Institute. (AU)