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Introduction
9
tionaspreciousevidence,sincetheyenrichedormodifiedtheplaywright’s
ownstagedirections.GPictures’werestudiedasvisualmanifestationsofaset
ofideasintheartist’smind,whichcouldalsobeexpressedusinglanguage
(thiswasespeciallythecasewithiconologyandtherelatedschoolinart
history).GFilm’wasapproachedasaquasi-literaryworkinwhichasequence
ofmovingpicturesreplacedasequenceofsentences(thiswasthestance
representedbyalargeproportionof20th-centuryfilmtheoristsandcrit-
ics).GMusic’wasamanifestationinactualperformanceofthenotatedscore
(whichledtotheabsolutereignofformalistschoolsinmusicology).
Thegameofmeaningandunderstandinghaditsclear-cutandrelatively
unambiguousrules.Theartisticprocesshaditsstableinstancesormoments,
namely,theauthor(painter,composer,filmdirector,producer,etc.)and
thework,astheymanifestedthemselvestotheresearcher’smind.Ifthe
authorwasabolished,asinstructuralism,thesituationbecameevensimpler.
Theresearchertookaworkofartandsubmittedittoallkindsofanalyses
inperfectisolationfromtheoutsideworld,verymuchasabiologistdis-
sectsaspecimenofanewlydiscoveredspeciesinanimmaculatelycleanlab.
Externalcircumstances,suchasperformancecontexts,theaudienceandits
reactions,emotionalandpoliticaloscillationsalongthetrajectoryofrecep-
tion–loomedsomewhereinthebackground,butwereoflittleconsequence.
Thoseresearcherswhowishedtotakeseriousinterestinthequalitiesofthe
materialmanifestationsofworksrepresentingtheperformingarts,thequal-
itieswhichunfoldinrealtimeandarenotfoundinthesourcetext,had
tofacetwomajorobstacles:thedisrespectoftheacademiccirclesandthe
resistanceoflanguageitself;thelatterprovedmuchhardertodealwith.
Whatdidsuchtextualstudiesandinterpretationsfailtograsp?Cer-
tainlyalltheephemeralqualitiesandphenomenarelatedtoperformingarts,
aswellasthemajorityofaudiencereactions,whatisnowreferredtoasGthe
affectivesphere’.Whatismore,text-centredmethodswerenotsuitedto
thestudyofspontaneousphenomena,improvisation,artisticactions,hap-
penings,hybridformsofartisticactivity,borderlinephenomenacombining
differentarts,aswellasgrassrootsprojectswhichhadnospecificpersonal
author.Audiencebehaviourcommandedattentiononlywhenittookextreme
forms(fainting,hysteria,protests),andeveninsuchcasesitplayedamerely
anecdotalroleinacademicnarration.(Onerareexceptionwasthepremiere
ofTheRiteofSpring,whereaudiencebehaviourbecameanautonomous
episodeinEuropeanculturalhistory,markingtheendofthebelleépoque.
Still,eveninthiscaseitwasalltoofrequentlydismissedasaGscandal’until
ModrisEksteinspresentedhisinterpretationoftheevent2.)Mostimpor-
2Cf.M.Eksteins,TheGreatWarandtheBirthoftheModernAge,1stedition,APeter
DavisonBook/HoughtonMifflinCompany1989.
