AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF "ATTITUDE" AS A BASIS FOR MIME (PANTOMIME).
Item
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Title
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPT OF "ATTITUDE" AS A BASIS FOR MIME (PANTOMIME).
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Identifier
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AAI8501186
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identifier
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8501186
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Creator
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WYLIE, MARY KATHRYN.
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Date
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1984
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study is to determine the principal elements that constitute the basis of the activity known as "mime." The hypothesis is that the widely used but little understood concept of "attitude" provides an important key to understanding the generic properties of this art form.;Two interrelated meanings of "attitude" are explored in this study which are then applied to the creative process of the performer and the stylistics of mime; one, which defines attitude as a "mental-emotional state": and the other, which defines it as a "posture" of the body or parts of the body. The initial chapters examine the classical meaning of mimesis, revealing that it is based on the expression of "psychical energy" (or attitudes), which the mime conveys by means of the gestural enactment of the "species characteristic traits" of phenomena. An exploration of attitude from a psychological standpoint establishes that attitudes are expressed through bodily "postures" or movement "held up from going into action." The core of the dissertation consists of an application of the initial findings to an analysis of four types of mime, attempting to synthesize and make connections among them: the ritual mime in rites of possession and shamanism; the Roman pantomime; the mime-dance of the Japanese Noh; and the corporeal mime of Etienne Decroux.;The study concludes that the following creative and stylistic principles are integral to an aesthetic of mime. Mime is rooted in the expression of attitudes which are metaphorically embodied in concrete imagery. The performer effects contact with imagery through a state of active, creative reverie characterized by identification and transformation. The aesthetics of this creative process are similar to those of the marionette. The performer uses his body as the "material" of his art, exercising will and control over all means of expression, in order to clearly "articulate" images. The primary stylistics of mime languages lie in the use of posturally based gesture, in which the whole or parts of the body are fixed in space as platforms for the unfolding of gesture. This allows the performer to facet brightly detached movement phrases made up of posture and gesture. These phrases constitute "gestural images" which exhibit similarities to the grammar and poetry of verbal images.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Theatre
