About the Book

Performance Studies: An Introduction

The publication of Performance Studies: An Introduction was a defining moment for the field. In this completely updated second edition, Schechner opens with a discussion of important developments in the discipline and closes with a chapter on "Global and Intercultural Performance" which is completely rewritten in the light of the post-September 11 world. Fully revised, with new examples, biographies, source material and photographs, this landmark textbook provides a lively and accessible overview of the full range of performance for undergraduates at all levels and beginning graduate students in performance studies, theatre, performing arts and cultural studies. Among the topics discussed are the performing arts and popular entertainments, rituals, play and games and the performances of everyday life. Supporting examples and ideas are drawn from the social sciences, performing arts, post-structuralism, ritual theory, ethology, philosophy and aesthetics.

• User-friendly, with a special text design, it also includes the following features:
• Numerous extracts from primary sources giving alternative voices and viewpoints
• Biographies of key thinkers
• Student activities to stimulate fieldwork, classroom exercises and discussion
• Key readings for each chapter
• 20 line drawings and 202 photographs drawn from private and public collections around the world.