Arti performative e performatività delle arti come concetti “intrinsecamente controversi”

According to Marvin Carlson, performance is an “essentially contested concept”, i.e. a concept which hasdisagreement about its essence built into the concept itself. An essentially contested concept impliesrecognition of rival uses of it, as not only logically possibile and humanly “likely”, but as of permanentcritical value to one’s own use or interpretation. This feature is even more important nowadays, whenperformance is not limited to theatre and performance art but emerges (along with its theoretical partner,performativity) as central metaphor and critical tool for a wide variety of studies, covering almost everyaspect of human activity. Following Carlson’s as well as Schechner’s and Jon McKenzie’s stimulating ideas,the article asks a bundle of questions. What do we exactly mean by performance? What defines, inparticular, performing arts (theatre, music and dance) compared to arts that could not be properly calledperformative? And what one should exactly intend for performativity in the arts? According to McKenzie, intoday’s world performance can refer to experimental art, productivity in the workplace, and functionality oftechnological systems. My aim is to argue that performing arts (in the field of cultural performances) workas a ‘countervailing thrust’ (in McLuhan’s words) against efficiency as operating principle in organizationaland technological performance.[...]