Vol. 62 No. 2 (2017): New Perspectives in Theatre History and Criticism
In the last decades, historical and critical theory studies in the field of performing and visual arts seem to be regarded with certain suspicion: in a global society dominated by technology’s ambition to cover traditional humanities with simple, unfiltered, information arts history and criticism are diverted towards a museum-ghetto besieged by the ghost of irrelevance. Lacking a consensus concerning the relationship between factual, “objective” information and the subjectivity inherent in any interpretation, how could historical and theoretical approaches to performing arts still maintain their relevance? Do recent changes in political and social perspectives strengthen or weaken our axiological systems? In a world of instantaneous information do we still have time and interest for ample research projects – individual or collective – intersecting critical thought and historical reconsideration? Who do these necessary research projects address today and how could we reignite interest towards them in the spaces of national and international cultures?