Curiosity or Contempt: On Spectacle, the Human, and Activism

Abstract

Human beings in the late twentieth century were increasingly shaped by the society of the spectacle as it was incorporated into the performative society. This process advanced the nature of spectacle as a major component in an emergent global sensorium. This evolution of spectacle can be understood through comparisons between spectacles in history, and through study of why dramatic theory has denigrated spectacle and why legitimate theatre has aimed to tame it. In turn, this indicates new ways in which spectacle participates in the circulation of power in the contemporary world and suggests an urgent need to revise conceptions of what it might mean to be commonly human. Analysis of spectacles of deconstruction in contemporary performance is especially useful for this task. Because spectacle has become a major force in cultural evolution it has special relevance to activists as a means whereby progressive change can be achieved.