Showing Off, Showing Up: Studies of Hype, Heightened Performance, and Cultural Power

by Laurie Frederik (Editor), Kimberley Bell Marra (Editor), Catherine A. Schuler (Editor)

Overview

The interdisciplinary essays in Showing Off, Showing Up examine acts of showing, a particular species of performance that relies on competition and judgment, active spectatorship, embodied excess, and exposure of core values and hidden truths. Acts of showing highlight those dimensions of performance that can most manipulate spectators and consumers, often through over-the-top heightening and skewing of presentation. Many forms of showing and of heightened performance, however, operate more enigmatically and covertly while still profoundly affecting the social world, even if our reactions to them are initially flippant or unconcerned because “it’s just a show.” Examining a wide range of examples—from dog shows to competitive dancing to carnivals to striptease, the essays illuminate how such events variously foster competition, exaggerate a characteristic, and reveal hidden truths. There is as much to be learned about the power of showing through subtlety and underlying intentionality as through overt display. The book’s theoretical introduction and 12 essays by leading scholars reveal how diverse, particularly efficacious genres of showing are theoretically connected and why they merit more concerted attention, especially in the 21st century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780472073467
Publisher:	University of Michigan Press
Publication date:	05/18/2017
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Laurie Frederik is Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and Director of the Latin American Studies Center at the University of Maryland.

Kim Marra is Professor of Theatre Arts and American Studies at the University of Iowa.

Catherine Schuler is Associate Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction Laurie Frederik 1

Section I Race and Breed: Showing Off "Natural Bodies" 25

Chapter 1 Saddle Sensations and Female Equestrian Prowess at the National Horse Show Kim Marra 27

Chapter 2 Painting the Body Brown and Other Lessons on How to Dance Latin Laurie Frederik 53

Chapter 3 Shamu the (Killer) Whale and an Ecology of Commodity Jennifer A. Kokai 81

Chapter 4 Hyping Clyde Beatty and His Wild Animal Show Virginia Anderson 107

Section II Power and Presence: The Politics of Showing Up 129

Chapter 5 Princess Beatrice's Ridiculous Wedding Hat and the Transnational Performances of Things Marlis Schweitzer 131

Chapter 6 Strobridge Posters and Late Nineteenth-Century Melodrama Katie Johnson 150

Chapter 7 Carnival Bands, Popular Politics, and the Craft of Showing the People in Haiti Chelsey Kivland 174

Chapter 8 The 2014 Sochi Olympiad Shows Off Putin's (New, Great, Open) Russia Catherine Schuler 201

Section III Provocation and Titillation: To Show Off the Unshown 231

Chapter 9 The Intimate Provocations of Showing Religion in Secular France Elayne Oliphant 233

Chapter 10 Not-for-Profit Pornography and the Benevolent Spectator Joy Brooke Fairfield 255

Chapter 11 A Paradoxical Show of Hunted Ghosts and Haunted Histories Robert Thompson 272

Chapter 12 Strip-Showing and the Suspension of a Naked End Daniel Sack 293

Coda 311

Contributors 317

Index 321

Editorial Reviews

"Showing Off, Showing Up: Studies of Hype, Heightened Performance, and Cultural Power sets out to both theorize the often-used theatrical verb “to show” and its many grammatical variants. Coeditors Laurie Frederik, Kim Marra, and Catherine Schuler assemble a wide collection of scholars, all of whom investigate compelling examples of “showing” in theatre and performance... the varied archives and rich theorizations of the individual essays make this a worthwhile resource for scholars studying animal performance, dance, clothing and costuming, tourism, advertising, theatre’s publics, performance as state power, or performance and sexuality, among other topics." - Tom Robson, Theatre Journal

Theatre Journal - Tom Robson

From top to bottom, the pieces of Showing Off, Showing Up are compelling, well-researched, and stand at the forefront of performance studies scholarship and hold the potential to move the field forward in very significant ways. It will find an appreciative audience with scholars and students in the field.”
— Jonathan Chambers, Bowling Green State University

From the Publisher