Einführung in Theorien des Körpers

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Subject according curriculum

Politics & Aesthetics

Teachers

Katharina Alsen , Dr. Benjamin Sprick

Scope

Wednesday, 13.15-16.15, dates: 22.04. / 29.04. / 27.05. / 03.06. / 10.06. / 24.06.

Room

Wiesendamm - Raum 1.15 (Seminarraum 3)

Duration

1.5 Semesterwochenstunden

Description

Theater 'works' with bodies. But what exactly does this mean? Bodies on stage are not simply 'naturally present', but are shaped by aesthetic practices and social expectations. They are carriers of social meanings and at the same time concrete, material phenomena. They oscillate between materiality and symbolism, discipline and resistance, visibility and vulnerability, function as a medium of affects and emotions and as an interface between the individual and the institution.

The seminar introduces central positions in body theory and examines how bodies are described in theater and the arts and what consequences this has for analysis and practice.
Based on canonical and more recent theoretical approaches, questions of presence, embodiment, performativity, agency, dispositives of visibility as well as standardization and deviation will be addressed. As examples, we will look at the body art movement from the history of performance art as well as current productions and performances, such as those by Florentina Holzinger, Rébecca Chaillon or the immersive works of the SIGNA collective.
The course combines textual readings with scenic analysis and provides a toolkit for examining theatrical bodies in their social, aesthetic and performative contexts.

This results in three central fields of work:
- Clarification of basic terminology
- Historical contextualization and reconstruction of body-theoretical positions of the 20th and 21st centuries
- Analytical application to current artistic works

Literature

Karen Barad (2012): Agential Realism, Berlin; Jane Bennett (2009): Lively Matter. A Political Ecology of Things, Berlin; Pierre Bourdieu (1979): The subtle differences, Frankfurt a.M.; Judith Butler (1990): Das Unbehagen der Geschlechter, Frankfurt a.M.; Erika Fischer-Lichte et al. (eds.) (2000): Körper-Inszenierungen. Presence and cultural change, Tübingen; dies. (2004): Ästhetik des Performativen, Frankfurt a.M.; Michel Foucault (1966): 'Der utopische Körper', in: ders. (2005): Die Heterotopien, Frankfurt a.M.; bell hooks (1992): Black Looks. Pop Culture, Media, Racism, Hamburg; Amelia Jones (1998): Body Art. Performing the Subject, Minneapolis; Helmuth Plessner (1928): Die Stufen des Organischen und der Mensch, Berlin; Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1945): Phenomenology of Perception, Berlin; Katharina Rost u. Jenny Schrödl (2017): "Körperlichkeit, Materialität und Gender in Theater und Theaterwissenschaft", Open Gender Journal; Azadeh Sharifi et al. (eds.) (2022): Theater Studies postcolonial/decolonial. A critical stocktaking, Bielefeld.

Credits

2 Creditpoints

Comments

Interest in the connection between theory and artistic practice, a short presentation in the seminar and a written reflection are required to obtain credit points. Various approaches to theory work will be tested, including dialogic reading, clustering or AI-supported readings. Optional participation without the awarding of credit points is also possible and takes place after consultation with the lecturers.

Registration: Please register by 20.04.2026 to katharina.alsen@hfmt-hamburg.de and benjamin.sprick@hfmt-hamburg.de

Modules

Modul Theorie Master Dramaturgie, Wahlmodul Master Dramaturgie, Theorie 1, Theorie 2, Theorie 1, Theorie 2, Modul Theorie 1 Schauspiel, Regie Schauspiel, Regie Musiktheater, Modul Theorie 2 Schauspiel, Regie Schauspiel, Regie Musiktheater, Modul Theorie 3 Schauspiel, Regie Schauspiel, Regie Musiktheater, Theaterwissenschaftliche Grundlagen I, Theaterwissenschaftliche Grundlagen II, Wahlmodul 2 Regie Musiktheater, Regie Schauspiel, Wahlmodul freie Wahl (alle Studiengänge), Wahlmodul Lehramt, Studium generale Wahlmodul Master, Wahlmodul 1 Regie, Wahlmodul 2 Regie