Empathy has provoked equal measures of excitement and controversy in recent years. For some; empathy is crucial to understanding others; helping us bridge social and cultural differences. For others; empathy is nothing but a misguided assumption of access to the minds of others. In this book; Cummings argues that empathy comes in many forms; some helpful to understanding others and some detrimental. Tracing empathyrsquo;s genealogy through aesthetic theory; philosophy; psychology; and performance theory; Cummings illustrates how theatre artists and scholars have often overlooked the dynamic potential of empathy by focusing on its more ldquo;monologicrdquo; forms; in which spectators either project their point of view onto characters or passively identify with them. This book therefore explores how empathy is most effective when it functions as a dialogue; along with how theatre and performance can utilise the live; emergent exchange between bodies in space to encourage more dynamic; dialogic encounters between performers and audience.
2016-07-16 2016-07-16File Name: B01IBJOG6A
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