Performance Anxiety in Media Culture

Performance Anxiety in Media Culture

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Performance Anxiety in Media Culture The Trauma of Appearance and the Drama of Disappearance Steve Bailey York University, Canada

Steve Bailey 2016 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-55788-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2016 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-56853-6 ISBN 978-1-137-55789-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137557896 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bailey, Steve, 1967 Performance anxiety in media culture : the trauma of appearance and the drama of disappearance / Steve Bailey. pages cm Includes index. 1. Performing arts Psychological aspects. 2. Performance anxiety. I. Title. PN1590.P76B36 2016 791.01 9 dc23 2015027218

Contents Acknowledgments vi Introduction: Faces on the Stage and Faces in the Stalls 1 1 The Subject is Performance: Goffman as Dramaturgical Prophet 5 2 Performance Anxiety: Role-ing with Lacan 26 3 Liquid Stages and Melting Frames: Objective De-Stabilization 44 4 From Looking to Being to Killing: Performance Anxiety in Recent French Language Cinema 64 5 Protesting Disappearance: The Drama of the Stylish Self in the World of OOTD 99 6 I Forgot to Remember to Forget or, Rockabilly Rebel, What Ya Gonna Do? 138 Conclusion: Performance as a Psycho-Existential Problem or, Between Performance Studies and Performativity 178 Notes 191 Works Cited 209 Index 218 v

Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University for a research fellowship that supported the completion of this book. Chris Satoor and Stephanie D Lima assisted with the research for Chapters 5 and 6. Thanks are also due to a number of colleagues at York and other institutions who provided feedback, editorial suggestions and intellectual support: Alan Blum, Kevin Dowler, David Skinner, Susan Ingram, and Markus Reisenleitner (York University); Elke Grenzer (York University and the Culture of Cities Centre); Paul Moore (Ryerson University); Saeed Hydaralli (Roger Williams University); Diego Llovet (Cancer Care Ontario); Dan C. Shoemaker (Bowling Green State University). Audiences at conferences organized by the Canadian Communication Association, Far West Popular Culture Association, Culture of Cities Centre, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and Studies in Cultural Meaning Research Group provided feedback on various sections of the book, and graduate students in the Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture, Graduate Program in Humanities, and Graduate Program in Science and Technology Studies have been an enduring source of stimulation and inspiration. My family have been lifelong supporters, and Herman (RIP), Gordie (RIP), and Permie have constituted the Canadian feline family. Christina and Alexandra have added to my life in ways impossible to measure. Dr. Greg Dimitriadis (1969 2014) was one of my dearest friends for nearly twenty years and will be missed a good soul and a great friend. I dedicate this book to him. vi