Abstract

For the book’s coda, the co-editors conduct a roundtable interview with David Zerbib, a French scholar specializing in performance theories. “Performance Knots: Crossed Threads of Anglo-American Thought and French Theory” sheds light on the French perspective as Zerbib tries, carefully, to draw out different strands of thought that weave both accord and discord in transcontinental theories and practices. Situating French Theory as an American invention, Zerbib nonetheless recognizes that Anglo-American influences are slowly making inroads in French culture and its institutions. Yet, despite the growing impact, angles of approach remain remarkably different across the traditions. Evoking the 1966 symposium organized at John Hopkins University where French Theory first took flight, he describes how the encounter between American and French trends reveals a confrontation between what he calls “forms of truth and forces of thought.” Heralding the misunderstandings between philosophy and performance theories around embodied presence, linguistic efficacy, and the event of the sign that were to ensue, this initial exchange stands in contrast to the contemporary evolutions to which Performance Philosophy bears witness.