CfP: Dramaturgies of the Real World: Dramaturgy as Methodology (edited collection)

Proposals due January 31, 2025
Editors: Karen Jean Martinson (Arizona State University) and Dan Smith (Michigan State University)

Dramaturgy as a field in theatre practice continues to be codified through published scholarship on both the role of the dramaturg and acts of dramaturgy. A separate application of the term dramaturgy exists in the discipline of sociology, inspired by Erving Goffman’s foundational work The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life. This volume proposes an interrogation of the disparate uses of the term dramaturgy, applying the techniques of theatrical dramaturgy to real world sites and encounters. In the sociological sense, dramaturgy refers to the performative interchanges that shape public life, which allow humans to communicate and make meaning. We combine this understanding with the ideas expressed in what is perhaps the most important and widely-cited article ever penned by a dramaturg, Elinor Fuchs’ “EF’s Visit to a Small Planet: Some Questions to Ask a Play.” Fuchs balances intellectual rigor with creative analysis, stressing that the job of the dramaturg is to analyze the rules of the theatrical world to best understand how it operates. 

We have discovered that bringing our dramaturgical thinking to cultural objects and embodied experiences allows us to analyze how things work, and how patterns —design patterns, but also patterns of behavior— accumulate to curate both space and experience. Our process of bridging Goffman and Fuchs thus constitutes a methodological approach. We work from the assumption that someone has made decisions that encourage audiences/consumers to interact with these sites in particular ways. The dramaturg’s perspective as an informed audience member allows for multiple pathways of understanding these choices, and might further offer liberatory potential beyond the mere understanding of structures. A dramaturgical approach to understanding the real world might help us create pathways to social change.  

Building on “Small Planets” and “Real World Dramaturgies” sessions held at ATHE conferences over the past several years, we envision chapters that discuss curated venues for tourism (architecture, casinos, museums, galleries, heritage sites) as well as modes of engagement (the academic job market, curriculum and syllabus development, corporate storytelling). What do we gain when we apply a dramaturgical mindset to the interactions and experiences that surround us? How are real-world sites curated for audience engagement? To what extent are resistant readings possible? 

We invite chapter proposals (300-600 words) that identify real-world sites, networks, or events for this kind of dramaturgical analysis. We hope to curate a robust and expansive collection that highlights wide-ranging dramaturgical thinking, authored by a diverse group of artists, scholars, and critics housed within a variety of academic, professional, and creative settings. We estimate that finished submissions will be around 3000-6000 words, and we are happy to include pieces of varying lengths. We welcome first-time authors and are willing to mentor you through the publication process. 

Please send proposals (or longer drafts) to both Karen Jean Martinson (karen.jean.martinson@asu.edu) and Dan Smith (smit2030@msu.edu) by January 31, 2025. Do not hesitate to reach out with any inquiries.