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Dixie-Land:TheU.S.SouthasaPerformativeFranchise
order.”6Tuspayingulipservice”towhatissupposedtoafectusasactionincar-
nate,poststructuralismwould,ironically,ude-act-ivate”theinternaldynamicsin-
herentintheideaofperformativityitself.
Tereisnodoubtthattheverballydecentralizingapproach,ontheonehand,
helpscreatehighlypoliticallyconscioustheoreticalanti-paradigmswhichmight
turnouttobechallengingfortheexistingorder/s.However,repeatedlyempow-
eredtofurtherdiscussrealitythanactuponit,thesaidapproach,ashistorian
GavinButtputsit,alsoeventuallycomestobencreditedwith[thesame]kindof
authority[and]….operatingasanauthorizingmetadiscourseforcontemporary
criticalmaneuvers,whilstsimultaneouslyworkingtoconstraintheproductionof
newconceptsand/ormethodsofcriticalprocedure.”7Tusentangledinitsuliter-
al”in/stability,poststructuraltheorypromptsthenotionofacademiaasauclosed
hermeneuticalsystem”(Schechner2002:148),whileatthesametimemakingthe
humanitiesseemunabletoadapttooraccountforthechallengesthattheprob-
lemsofthecontemporaryworld,suchasgenocide,terrorism,technologicalprog-
ress,orglobalization,bringabout(Domańska2007:52).
Understood,however,inperformativetermsasactionratherthannarration,
poststructuralism)sveryownin/stability-orwhatDerridacallsdiférence-im-
mediatelylosesitssusceptibilitytobeuread”asasearchforaureversalofthe
classicalopposition,”oraugeneraldisplacementofthesystem”(Derrida1988:
21),orasanyotherdefinitepurpose,forthatmatter.Infact,itceasestoberead-
ableatall.Instead,thefundamentalliveness,andhencetheagency,ofthe-al-
leged-changeabilityofpoststructuraltheorybecomesactedupon,or,astra-
ditionalscholarlyknowledgewouldhaveit,itisputtotheforefrontasastudy
objectbecause,asMichelFoucault,thethinkermostfrequentlyassociatedwith
poststructuralismandpostmodernism(theafliationsfromwhich,bytheway,
hepreferredtodistancehimself),seesit:
…it[is]never…possibletoassign,intheorderofdiscourse,theirruptionofarealevent
[for]beyondanyapparentbeginning,thereisalwaysasecretorigin-sosecretandso
6
Derrida,Jacques.LimitedInc.Evanston:NorthwesternUniversityPress1988:21.
7
Butt,Gavin.uTeParadoxesofCriticism.”AferCriticism.NewResponsestoArtandPerformance.
Ed.GavinButt.Malden:BlackwellPublishing2005:4.
9