THE ANATOMICAL THEATRE REVISITED
Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) & Department of Theatre Studies,
University of Amsterdam
5-8 April, 2006

CALL FOR PAPERS

The historical anatomical theatre marks the emergence of a new knowledge about
the body. Eventually, this knowledge came to represent the knowledge of the
body, while at the same time -- as Jonathan Sawday (1995) points out --
anatomical dissection came to represent the model of scientific investigation
par excellence. The anatomical theatre, therefore, symbolizes the emergence of
a particular constellation of ideas and practices underlying what became the
dominant conception of the body, including prevailing notions of how the body
can be known, and, what it means to know. This inaugural moment was highly
theatrical in character, and occurred in a highly theatrical space.

The popularity of anatomy -- Sawday argues -- cannot be understood solely from
raising the ban on the formerly forbidden practice of dissection, nor simply as
a result of the superior quality of the knowledge thus produced. Rather, the
anatomical body is part and parcel of the development of modern individualism,
and of the modern scientific world-view. Dissection turns the body into a mute
corporeal object, separated from and opposed to the Cartesian disembodied eye/I
as the site of subjectivity, thought and knowledge.  Additionally, the 'culture
of dissection' (Sawday) marks the beginnings of what Michel Foucault has
analysed as the 'surveillance' of the body within regimes of judgement and
punishment, as well as an early crystallization of the modern Western sense of
interiority.

'The Anatomical Theatre Revisited' engages with what is by now a history of
attempts to rethink these notions of the body, subjectivity and knowledge. It
promotes a return to the theatre in order to explore alternative conceptions
emerging at the intersection of artistic practices and philosophical,
theoretical and scientific ideas.
Many artists use (or have used) performance, theatricality, staging, or
re-enactment as means to challenge conceptions of the body as a mere object.
They argue for a new understanding of the body as an agent actively involved in
world making, and in the production of thought and knowledge. Sometimes, their
work presents an explicit critique of the history of the anatomical body, in
other cases the implications of their work can be read as an implicit
commentary on the constellation of ideas and practices concerning bodies,
thought and knowledge, summarized in Sawday's notion of the 'culture of
dissection'.

'The Anatomical Theatre Revisited' encompasses a series of plenary lectures by
selected international scholars, followed by panel presentations.
Keynote speakers include Susan Foster (UCLA), Michal Kobialka (University of
Minnesota), Bojana Kunst (University of Ljubljana), José van Dijck (University
of Amsterdam), Sally Jane Norman
(Culture Lab, University of Newcastle upon Tyne), and Kurt Vanhoutte (University
of Groningen).
For the panel presentations we invite proposals that address the following
questions:

-          How might a practical or imaginary 're-theatricalization' of the
anatomical body contribute to exposing aspects of the cultural-historical
perspective implied within what Sawday terms the 'culture of dissection'? How
do historical and contemporary bodies on stage reflect aspects of this
perspective? How do bodies on stage illustrate historically and culturally
specific conceptions of embodiment, as well as conceptions regarding the
relationships between embodiment and knowledge, thought and reflexivity? How
are these conceptions reflected in theories of theatre, performance and dance?
-          How do artistic works respond to, expand or explore new theoretical
approaches concerned with the relationships between bodies and knowledge? How
do artistic works contribute to new conceptions of what bodies are and how they
can be understood, not only as objects of knowledge, but also as the site of
subjectivity, thought and knowledge?
-          What are the implications of new developments on stage, in art, and
in theory for analysis and interpretation of acting, dancing, and/or
spectatorship? What new concepts present themselves? What kind of interpretive
tools are lacking?
-          What might the implications be of such a re-theatricalizing for our
understanding of:  the relationship between art and theory in the production of
knowledge; the objectivity of science; and, the performativity of thought?


Please send proposals comprising the name and a short bio of the presenter, and
a title with abstract (300 words) to Maaike Bleeker at [log in to unmask]
Please paste the proposal into the body of the email message rather than
attaching a separate file.
Submission deadline for proposals is 15 November 2005