Warner, David Scott
(2024)
The Affective Geography of Chinese Improvisational Theater: Movement, Event and Flow.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
In the 2010s, large Chinese media organizations sought to incorporate innovative, locally sourced content for cinema, television, and stage productions by collaborating with the emerging trend of improvisational theater groups in Mainland China. From 2009 to 2020, participant observation and a quantitative analysis were undertaken to map the geographic space of improvisational performance as influenced by certain Daoist, Confucian, and structural factors. It was found that among Chinese improvisational performers there is a sense of both individual and group flow leading to the enactment of a Deleuzian event marked by a singularity of latent potential. The relational movement of bodies within this space forms an affective atmosphere within which shared flow was heightened by Daoist variables and moderately inhibited by both Confucian and structural variables. This suggests that a culturally modified variation of Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow tailored to Mainland China’s cultural and structural factors may be advantageous for group story and media content generation through improvisation.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
23 May 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
11 April 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
23 May 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
12 April 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
2 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 2 years. |
| Number of Pages: |
55 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Sociology |
| Degree: |
MA - Master of Arts |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Improvisation, Chinese, Daoism, Confucianism, Cultural Geography, Flow, Deleuze |
| Date Deposited: |
23 May 2024 19:45 |
| Last Modified: |
23 May 2024 19:45 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46108 |
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The Affective Geography of Chinese Improvisational Theater: Movement, Event and Flow. (deposited 23 May 2024 19:45)
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