Writing Performance, Identity, and Everyday Life invites the reader into Ronald J. Pelias' world of artistic and everyday performance. Calling upon a broad range of qualitative methods, these selected writings from Pelias submerge themselves in the evocative and embodied, in the material and consequential, often creating moving accounts of their topics.

The book is divided into four sections: Foundational Logics, Performance, Identity, and Everyday Life. Part I addresses the methodological underpinnings of the book, focusing on the 'touchstones' that inform Pelias' work: performative, autoethnographic, poetic, and narrative methods. These directions push the researcher toward empathic engagement, a leaning toward others; using the literary to evoke the cognitive and affective aspects of experience; and an ethical sensibility located in social justice. Parts II-IV focus on artistic and everyday life performances, including discussions of the disciplinary shift from the oral interpretation of literature to the field of performance studies; empathy and the actor's process; conceptions of performance; the performance of race, gender, and sexuality; and performances in interpersonal relations and academic circles.

By the end, readers will see Pelias demonstrate the power of qualitative methods to engage and to present alternative ways of being. Pelias' work shows us how to understand and feel the evocative strength of thinking performatively.

About the Author

Ronald J. Pelias is currently teaching part-time in the theatre program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His most recent books exploring qualitative methods are Leaning: A Poetics of Personal Relations (2011), Performance: An Alphabet of Performative Writing (2014), and If the Truth Be Told: Accounts in Literary Forms (2016).

Reviews

If you're new to Ron Pelias' work, you'll find treasure here: riches you will not tire of, that will reward you for what you give - time, attention, openness. If you're already familiar with Pelias' work, or think you are, you might need to reconsider: the range, depth and sheer beauty of Pelias' writing will take you somewhere new. There's treasure here for you too. This is a vibrant collection of texts from a giant of qualitative inquiry.

Jonathan Wyatt, Senior Lecturer, Director of the Centre for Creative-Relational Inquiry, The University of Edinburgh

Book Information
ISBN 9780367592110
Author Ronald J. Pelias
Format Paperback
Page Count 294
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g