Performative spaces: Negotiations in the literature classroom

Abstract

The term performativity is used in and across various research disciplines, such as language philosophy, gender and cultural studies, and art and literature studies. Inspired by former uses of the concept within other disciplines, this article elaborates on what performativity can offer in research on literary education. Using two theoretical conceptualisations of performativity, poststructuralist and posthumanist, the article explores empirical examples from the authors’ previous studies. The analyses highlight how performativity emphasises and, maybe even more importantly, provides theoretical and conceptual tools for studying—ongoing processes and unfoldings in the literature classroom. Negotiation emerges as a key concept. Finally, the study provides suggestions on what performativity can offer in research on literary education, and relates this to recent issues in research on literary education in the Nordic countries as well as contemporary understandings of Bildung.