Enactivism and Performance Theory: Towards Interdisciplinarity Without Misunderstandings
Pamiętnik Teatralny June 16, 2025 Yanna Popova
Watching a performance is an active, embodied, and interactive experience in which meaning is co-created between performer and spectator, not passively received. This view aligns with enaction, a comprehensive approach to cognition rooted in biology, dynamic systems theory, and phenomenology. Performance studies, originating in anthropology and philosophical pragmatics, shares similarities with enactivism but also differs due to their distinct intellectual genealogies. This article examines both common ground and differences between the two fields, clarifies misunderstandings, and aims to open pathways for future connections.