Theatre Studies Meet Anthropology and Then Zooanthropology. A Proposed Field of Inquiry into Animal Performance Studies

In introducing some of the key issues related to the emerging field of animal performance studies, I will refer to two recurring elements: the multidisciplinarity that has characterised the new theatre studies since its re-foundation, and the focus on both human and animal alterity. My own research has explored the intersection between theatre and anthropology through the figure of Michel Leiris, particularly by examining his theatrical interpretation of possession and by experiencing these ceremonies directly in the field. Investigating the relationships between humans and non-humans in the history of performance has highlighted the need for new methodological tools to address interspecies performance. Foremost among these is the convergence of theatre studies and zooanthropology, which necessarily include an ethological dimension. Just as Roberta Gandolfi, in her essay on women’s and gender studies in Italy (2013), pointed to the absence of well-established research paths, the same can now be said of critical animal studies. A methodological premise is therefore required concerning the interplay between new theatre studies, performance studies, and anthropology, in order to situate the concerns of animal performance studies within broader phenomena and the very formation of this disciplinary area.