| dc.description.abstract | “A troublemaker in feminist thought” is an MA thesis in which I examines how the performance Cock, Cock… Who’s there? by Samira Elagoz helps to rethink and reconceptualize cisgender interaction in a relational way. I started this research from the desire of investigating the potential of staging cisgender interactions in contemporary feminist performance, and how this can help to think about gender at large in a relational way, in contrast to a more dualistic approach in traditional feminist performance. Inspired by a series of articles published in the theatre journals EtCetera and Theatermaker, I build further upon theatre critic Fransien van der Putt’s analysis in her article “Camera op de man – over de kritiek op het werk van Samira Elagoz” with regard to the differences between the performance by Elagoz and Florentina Holzinger’s Apollon Musagète. I ground this analysis in theories of Rebecca Schneider (regarding the explicit body in performance) and Donna Haraway’s relational philosophy, along with an interpretation of Haraway’s work in a gender theory context by Kathrin Thiele. My main research question is: how does the performance Cock, Cock… Who’s there? by Samira Elagoz help to rethink and reconceptualize cisgender interaction in a relational way? In the first chapter I elaborate on Haraway’s relational philosophy, specifically her theories on staying with the trouble. Following Thiele, I argue why staying with the trouble can be productive in a gender theory context to reconceptualize gender difference. In the second chapter I go into feminist performance as a genre and tradition. I pay specific attention to Schneider’s theories regarding the explicit body, using Apollon Musagète as an exemplifier of these theories. In chapter three I dramaturgically analyze how cisgender interactions are staged in the performance Cock, Cock… Who’s there? and interpret this staging by operationalizing Haraway’s concepts staying with the trouble, becoming-with and making kin. In chapter four I compare the critical reception of Cock, Cock… Who’s there? to the reception of Apollon Musagète, arguing that Cock, Cock… Who’s there? can be regarded as a troublemaker, in a Harawayan sense, in feminist performance and feminist thought. In the conclusion I bring these various strings of thought together, arguing why Cock, Cock… Who’s there? can help to rethink cisgender interaction in a broader sense, both in the academic discourse as well as in (feminist) performance, and possibly even society as a whole. | |
