Performance VS Performativity
Performance, as stated by Merriam Webster, is the execution of an action, the fulfillment of a claim, promise, or request, or a public presentation or exhibition. As I searched on the internet the definition of performance, numerous sites came up, Performance — is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is the way in which someone or something functions, or how effective something or someone is at doing a good job. And the most common one, Performance is the act of performing.
I made a survey, and asked people to define performance. Here are the responses — it’s the act of performing for an audience to witness, or showing works or pieces to an audience. It’s a re-telling of stories, projections of different personalities, and an activity with the intention to entertain or provide something to an individual. A performance can be as simple as creating action but acknowledging that someone might be watching, a dynamic routine done by a body. It is the act of carrying out a series of cues directed by milieu, and a gathering of people in which there is a consensus that someone is a performer and someone is a spectator. I’ve always found it a bit hard to define performance, but my general thought is that performance — is the presentation of the self and an action. Literally, any action. Whether that be a talent, an activity, a ritual or a routine, anything as long as it has the intention to entertain or provide something to someone. And that someone could be an audience, or even yourself.
But when is a “performance” considered performative? Is performance different from performativity? Performativity is more of an expression that creates or pushes forward a transaction or an exchange between the performer and the spectator. You don’t just enact, you have to be able to create and build something out of it. It isn’t merely an action or a text being performed and witnessed by an audience. It asks the questions “what do we say/do?” and “why we say/do it?” And so, performance becomes performative when intentions deepen. So, everyday life performances, interviews, theatrical plays, and even ordering food can be considered as performative performances.
As we move forward in life, there has been a number of attempts to define and understand what performance really is. Though it can be mildly confusing, I also find it fun that there are numerous definitions of performance. Mary Strine, Beverly Long and Mary Hopkins said that performance had become such a concept, developed in an atmosphere of “sophisticated disagreement”[1] meaning, rather than arguing about its different definitions, instead we come together to shape and grasp a fuller understanding of performance.
We could all have different ideas of performance but, one thing that we should agree on, is that performance isn’t just merely performing. To quote Richard Schechner, “Performance is a broad spectrum of actions ranging from play, games, popular entertainments, and rituals to the performing arts, professional roles, political personae, media, and the constructions of race, gender, and identity in everyday life.”[2] He said that there are nine categories of performances, namely: In Everyday Life, in the Arts, in Sports and Popular entertainment, in Professions, Politics, Sex, Rituals, Play, and in Technology, particularly, Social Media. And this is where we move on to our main topic which is Performativity in Social Media.
[1] http://www3.nccu.edu.tw/~kjt1026/gerontology/disscussion_reports_file/20051112-performance.pdf
[2] https://www.coursera.org/learn/richard-schechners-introduction-to-performance-studies/home/week/2
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