THE REAL PARADOX OF THE ACTOR: HOW TO CAPTURE IN WORDS THE COMPLEX PARADOXICAL POWER THAT UNDERPINS EVERY EXCEPTIONAL ACTING PERFORMANCE

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dc.contributor.advisor Hotz-Davies, Ingrid (Prof. Dr.)
dc.contributor.author Weiner, Bettina
dc.date.accessioned 2024-04-02T09:44:57Z
dc.date.available 2024-04-02T09:44:57Z
dc.date.issued 2024-04-02
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10900/152472
dc.identifier.uri http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:21-dspace-1524723 de_DE
dc.identifier.uri http://dx.doi.org/10.15496/publikation-93811
dc.description.abstract This work examines what it is that exceptional actors do when they resonate with audiences, and how to capture these actors’ performances in words. At present, there exists no suitable language to describe poignant acting performances. Hitherto, exceptional performers have been characterized as having elusive qualities such as “charisma,” great “presence,” or the “It-factor.” Since acting is primarily a physical art, it is difficult to express what actors do with dualistic language that values mind over body and neglects that the body also shapes the mind. 

Furthermore, the history of acting theory demonstrates a distrust toward an art form that resists reductive linguistic appropriation. A compelling example of such an anti-theatrical and dichotomous viewpoint is Denis Diderot’s polemical essay of 1773, The Paradox of the Actor. In this essay, Diderot insists—wrongly, I argue—that the actor’s paradox is that only a robotic, unmoved actor can move an audience because the actor’s mind has complete control over his body and can circumvent the soul. My paper builds on Diderot’s essay, and with holistic language redrafts and redresses what I understand to be the real paradox of the actor. Through an interdisciplinary approach that observes manifest Shakespearean acting performances and puts them into context with acting theories (such as Stanislavski’s system) and new scientific approaches to acting (such as cognitive neuroscience and Alba emoting), this study finds that a more receptive, expressive, and comprehensive language is needed to describe and give meaning to what it is actors do that inspires audiences. This paper argues that acting performances that resonate with audiences are comprised of paradox and in-between states that are successfully conveyed through non-verbal communication but inadequately conveyed with dualistic language. This study concludes that a more embodied, inclusive, and generous language that encompasses liminal, non-binary and contradictory states gives means to make visible the invisible paradoxical power that underpins every exceptional acting performance. en
dc.language.iso en de_DE
dc.publisher Universität Tübingen de_DE
dc.rights ubt-podok de_DE
dc.rights.uri http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/doku/lic_mit_pod.php?la=de de_DE
dc.rights.uri http://tobias-lib.uni-tuebingen.de/doku/lic_mit_pod.php?la=en en
dc.subject.classification Schauspielkunst , Resonanz , Charisma , Diderot, Denis , Shakespeare, William , Kognitive Neurowissenschaft , Paradoxon , Theaterwissenschaft , Dualismus de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 100 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 150 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 300 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 400 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 420 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 700 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 790 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 792 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 793 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 800 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 810 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 820 de_DE
dc.subject.ddc 900 de_DE
dc.subject.other Stanislavski de_DE
dc.subject.other Non-Verbale Kommunikation de_DE
dc.subject.other acting theory en
dc.subject.other resonance en
dc.subject.other Präsenz de_DE
dc.subject.other paradox of the actor en
dc.subject.other It-Faktor de_DE
dc.subject.other acting en
dc.subject.other paradox en
dc.subject.other non-verbal communication en
dc.subject.other embodied language en
dc.subject.other charisma en
dc.subject.other presence en
dc.subject.other It-factor en
dc.subject.other mind-body dualism en
dc.subject.other anti-theatrical prejudice en
dc.subject.other Diderot en
dc.subject.other Shakespeare en
dc.subject.other Stanislavski en
dc.subject.other cognitive neuroscience en
dc.subject.other Alba emoting en
dc.title THE REAL PARADOX OF THE ACTOR: HOW TO CAPTURE IN WORDS THE COMPLEX PARADOXICAL POWER THAT UNDERPINS EVERY EXCEPTIONAL ACTING PERFORMANCE en
dc.type PhDThesis de_DE
dcterms.dateAccepted 2023-06-16
utue.publikation.fachbereich Anglistik, Amerikanistik de_DE
utue.publikation.fakultaet 5 Philosophische Fakultät de_DE
utue.publikation.noppn yes de_DE

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