Performative Speech
performative |pərˈfôrmətiv| adjective Linguistics & Philosophy
relating to or denoting an utterance by means of which the speaker performs a particular act (e.g., I bet, I apologize, I promise).
Often contrasted with constative.
Are the best poems performative speech? Is there an aesthetic that prefers performative speech?
Examples of poems that function as performative speech?
Examples of poems that function as constative speech?
relating to or denoting an utterance by means of which the speaker performs a particular act (e.g., I bet, I apologize, I promise).
Often contrasted with constative.
Are the best poems performative speech? Is there an aesthetic that prefers performative speech?
Examples of poems that function as performative speech?
Examples of poems that function as constative speech?
posted by Anonymous at 8:27 PM
4 Comments:
I think all poetry is in some way performative. Even if it's on the page, and it's a traditional lyric, it's still being heard in the reader's mind when it's read. Every poem has a voice, a persona, a mode of existence, and we're being invited into that world to experience it. Some poems do call the reader out directly, by using "you" or being a monologue, but all poems are seeking readers/listerners for a performance.
Makes sense.
But I'm still thinking about it. You know? It's the word "act" that's fritzing my brain out when I think too hard about it. A poem as an act. Meaning as an act. Zzt. Zt. The limbs in my brain start creaking, and there's popping in the bottom brackets.
I'm looking for constative poems to compare.
Oh, damn. You had to go and open a can of words I never even knew existed. I'd never heard of the philosphy of language. Yikes. Googling "peformative/constative" really got things wriggling.
I found this which reads at some points almost like algebra to me but I can begin to at least grasp what the hell you're asking.
Too, the book "How to Do Things with Words" kept coming up in the google search. Have you read it?
Oh, I'm lost. I'm at sea. I need a cup of coffee.
Thanks, Laurel, for the link. Yeah, I guess I'm asking where the line is between description and action. When does description become action? I mean, there's the "act" of describing, right?
Like you, I'm wrestling with the terms and by extension, I'm also wrestling with the possibilities of words.
If "I apologize" is performative, is "I describe" performative? Where does it end? "I apologize" is an apology. Is "I describe" a description?
If the apology includes description, then what?
I mean, what about WCW's poem This Is Just To Say?
I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast
Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold
Is this an insincere apology and therfore not an apology or is this the apology of a sensualist? Is it an apology or a description of the plums? Is it performative or constative?
I have a million questions.
Is a narrative more likely to be performative than a list? Can a list of items ever become performative?
I will keep puzzling over this, however, instead of going on with my list of questions, I'm going to go write.
I'll look for the Austin book.
Poetry as performative was an idea Doty brought up in Nebraska. And I haven't forgotten. I'm working on putting the notes together. I'll send them to you soon. Been suffering through a minor lost file debacle for the last few days.
Talk to you soon,
Jack
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