Faustin Linyekula : Postcolonial perspective and heterodoxy in dramaturgy

Abstract:                                          ABSTRACT Bachelor´s thesis in Performance Studies, Stockholm University Spring 2018 Faustin Linyekula: Postcolonial perspective and orthodoxy in dramaturgy Marc-Antoine Vumilia Muhindo  This thesis aims to bring to the fore the means through which artistic postcolonial practices could qualitatively impact the evolution of the performance field in the Western. Research questions include the existence or not of a postcolonial aesthetics. The work is contained in the double theoretical framework of postcolonialism and of French sociologist Bourdieu´s theory of social fields. Postcolonialism constitutes the ideological and critical frame, while the theory of social field is used to analyse the nature of the structuring forces that compose the theatre milieu and the nature of the power relationships that shape it. The main materials that are analysed and commented during the research are videos of live performance. Different methodological tools were used to exploit the material in an interpretative approach, like dramaturgical analysis, theatre semiotics, dance analysis and cultural semiotics. This essay opens with an introductory discussion that elucidates some problematic key concepts, such as postcolonial performance. Follows a descriptive chapter that studies the Parisian theatre milieu as a social field according to French sociologist Bourdieu´s theory, by focussing on the power relations.  Focus is set on the application of Bourdieu´s concepts of heterodoxy to theatre. The following chapter scrutinizes the concept and practice of postcolonial perspective applied to theatre. The features of postcolonial theatre are highlighted and illustrated through the analysis of two performances by Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula : The Dialogue Series ii: La création du monde (1923-2012) and The Dialogue Series iv: Moya, in their social and political contexts. The aim is to demonstrate that the dramaturgical frame in which the semiotic signs are articulated in the artist´s artefacts, constitutes a paradigm of heterodoxy in the field of Western performing arts. As a conclusion, this work considers that dramaturgical practices grounded in postcolonial critical perspective, are an opportunity to enrich and open western dramaturgy and theatre studies to the reality of the fast-changing and globalizing world.   Key words: Postcolonial studies, heterodoxy, syncreticity, Faustin Linyekula, Bourdieu, theatre,Congo,dramaturgy.                                          ABSTRACT Bachelor´s thesis in Performance Studies, Stockholm University Spring 2018 Faustin Linyekula: Postcolonial perspective and orthodoxy in dramaturgy Marc-Antoine Vumilia Muhindo  This thesis aims to bring to the fore the means through which artistic postcolonial practices could qualitatively impact the evolution of the performance field in the Western. Research questions include the existence or not of a postcolonial aesthetics. The work is contained in the double theoretical framework of postcolonialism and of French sociologist Bourdieu´s theory of social fields. Postcolonialism constitutes the ideological and critical frame, while the theory of social field is used to analyse the nature of the structuring forces that compose the theatre milieu and the nature of the power relationships that shape it. The main materials that are analysed and commented during the research are videos of live performance. Different methodological tools were used to exploit the material in an interpretative approach, like dramaturgical analysis, theatre semiotics, dance analysis and cultural semiotics. This essay opens with an introductory discussion that elucidates some problematic key concepts, such as postcolonial performance. Follows a descriptive chapter that studies the Parisian theatre milieu as a social field according to French sociologist Bourdieu´s theory, by focussing on the power relations.  Focus is set on the application of Bourdieu´s concepts of heterodoxy to theatre. The following chapter scrutinizes the concept and practice of postcolonial perspective applied to theatre. The features of postcolonial theatre are highlighted and illustrated through the analysis of two performances by Congolese choreographer Faustin Linyekula : The Dialogue Series ii: La création du monde (1923-2012) and The Dialogue Series iv: Moya, in their social and political contexts. The aim is to demonstrate that the dramaturgical frame in which the semiotic signs are articulated in the artist´s artefacts, constitutes a paradigm of heterodoxy in the field of Western performing arts. As a conclusion, this work considers that dramaturgical practices grounded in postcolonial critical perspective, are an opportunity to enrich and open western dramaturgy and theatre studies to the reality of the fast-changing and globalizing world.   Key words: postcolonial studies, heterodoxy, syncreticity, Faustin Linyekula, Bourdieu, theatre.