A Case for Creative Misunderstanding

Date
2015
Authors
Mazer, S
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Te Ara Poutama, AUT University
Abstract

The differences between us necessitate the dialogue, rather than disallow it – a dialogue must take place, precisely because we don’t speak the same language. (Ahmed, 2000, p. 180, italics in the original) Human ways of life increasingly influence, dominate, parody, translate, and subvert one another. (Clifford, 1986, p. 22) I begin with an admission: I’m not Māori, not indigenous in any place or in any way that would allow me to speak and write with such authority. Nor, for that matter, am I a dancer. I’m an American theatre-trained, performance ethnographer. As a performance ethnographer, everywhere I go, everywhere I look, I see performances, and while I may not understand the language or conventions of the performances I see, even so I tell the story of my seeing performances to others.

Description
Keywords
Source
Te Kaharoa, vol.8(2), pp.87 - 104
DOI
Rights statement
Te Kaharoa is a free-access, multi-disciplinary, refereed, e-journal focusing on indigenous Pacific issues.
Collections