1st Edition

Dance and the Corporeal Uncanny Philosophy in Motion

By Philipa Rothfield Copyright 2020
    264 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    264 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Dance and the Corporeal Uncanny takes the philosophy of the body into the field of dance, through the lens of subjectivity and via its critique.

    It draws on dance and performance as its dedicated field of practice to articulate a philosophy of agency and movement. It is organized around two conceptual paradigms - one phenomenological (via Merleau-Ponty), the other an interpretation of Nietzschean philosophy, mediated through the work of Deleuze.

    The book draws on dance studies, cultural critique, ethnography and postcolonial theory, seeking an interdisciplinary audience in philosophy, dance and cultural studies.

    Contents

    List of figures

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction: Hanging Out in the Body

    PART ONE

    Chapter 1: Merleau-Ponty and the Lived Body

    Chapter 2: Movement Subjectivity and the Phenomenology of Dance

    Chapter 3: Kinaesthetic Sensibility and the Politics of Difference

    Chapter 4: Keeping it Korean: The Pluralization of Space and Time in Korean Dance

    PART TWO

    Chapter 5: Nietzsche and the Ontology of Force

    Chapter 6: Subjectivity Three Ways: In Nietzsche and Deleuze

    Chapter 7: Staging Sovereignty

    Conclusion: Between the Dancer and the Dance

    Index

    Biography

    Philipa Rothfield is an academic, a dancer and a dance reviewer. She is an honorary staff member in Philosophy and Politics at La Trobe University, Australia, and honorary professor in Dance and Philosophy of the Body at the University of Southern Denmark. She is Creative Advisor at Dancehouse, Melbourne. She is co-author of Practising with Deleuze: Design, Dance, Art, Writing, Philosophy (2017).

    ''In Dance and the Corporeal Uncanny, Philipa Rothfield wonders how we can think the body as a mobile formation, a multiplicity entangled in arrangements of forces. With stunning insight, Rothfield critiques any oppositional rendering of ecology, environment, and the dancing subject and audience. Rendering Deleuze and Nietzsche with unerring precision, Rothfield proposes a philosophy of action that can help us imagine what it means to move in ethical ways.Essential reading for philosophy, dance, and cultural studies.'' Thomas F. DeFrantz, Professor, Northwestern University

     

    ''This is an utterly original book on the corporeality of dance performance and the various philosophies that enable us to engage with and further elaborate its concepts and methods. In addressing dance and philosophy together, Philipa Rothfield brings to life the works of Merleau-Ponty, Nietzsche, Foucault and Deleuze through their encounters with the practices of global forms of contemporary dance. A wonderful, indeed breathtaking, work!'' Elizabeth Grosz, author of Volatile Bodies