AIDAN BLISS

5/12/2021: Judith Butler

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The definitions that we've previously discussed don't do a lot of work in extrapolating on how the word is utilized in the contemporary context. Furthermore, the road to understanding is treacherous. Think something long and winding, full of pseudo-intellectual hyper-referential academic roadblocks that must be parsed and removed off the road before moving on. Rather than indignantly stay on that route, it might be more effective to see 'performative' used in context and steer clear of the pitstop that is excessive meditation on the difference between "perform[ing] a particular act" and simply doing something.

 

The use of the word 'performative' in text is often accompanied by a citation towards someone else's understanding of the word. If not, it's almost always assumed that the audience knows exactly what it means. Many of these citations point toward Judith Butler and her essay "Performative Acts & Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." It's in the title, after all – along with 'phenomenology,' which (if anyone forgot) essentially refers to the study of our first-person lived experiences.

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Unsurprisingly, Butler neglects to give us a straightforward definition of the word. None of these texts do, really. I can't shake the feeling that if we copy-pasted the OED's takes on 'performative' or 'perform' on top of their usages in these academic contexts, it would all fall apart. Nonetheless, Butler is a good starting point. For her part, she makes a valid connection between notions of 'acting' and performing as she offers a helpful opening sentence: that philosophers' understanding of both these things isn't so straight-forward.

 

"Philosophers rarely think about acting in the theatrical sense, but they do have a discourse of 'acts' that maintains associative semantic meanings with theories of performance and acting." (Butler, "Performative Acts")

 

Truly a formidable disclaimer. In fact, it's no stretch of the imagination to argue that this specific sentence is what the bulk of following texts aiming to discuss performativity are citing – not so much Butler's thoughts on gender. The critical idea that it seeks to get across is that the type of performance being discussed is not necessarily the theatrical type. Where does this leave us? Butler recommends that we also have a hearty understanding of the phenomenological canon and its notable 'action theory' subgenre, referencing ideas discussed by John Searle, Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and George Herbert Mead ("among others").  

 

Action theory is quite the curious thing. From my understanding (having not read any Searle, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, or Mead), action theory is the study of the "to do" that comes before the "ought to do." In other words, it's looking at behavior that isn't influenced by our understanding of morality or social code.