The Concept of “Abstraction From Culture” in Theater Anthropology and Its Evaluation of Globalization

Pınar Arık

Makale detayları

The Concept of “Abstraction From Culture” in Theater Anthropology and Its Evaluation of Globalization

Yazarlar:

Pınar Arık

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Görsel Sanatlar (Diğer)

Dergi:

Art-Sanat Issue 24, pp.519-541

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356344

pISSN:

2148-3582

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 The studies of Eugenio Barba in theatrical anthropology are about the actor, not the anthropological study of traditional cultures or performance. According to his way of thinking, the actor trains his own way of seeing by confronting the culture to which he belongs, and becomes a participant on the one hand and disconnected from his culture on the other. Thus, with the fictional body heshe creates, the actor reconstructs hisher body and exhibits a general stage behavior by denying the naturalness of hisher behaviors that have emerged as a result of the historical and cultural process and shaped according to hisher own culture, in short, isolating himher from hisher culture. Although these studies aim to create an alternative understanding of theater that is against the formal art culture of the West and embraces other cultures, concepts such as fictional body and abstraction from culture seem to match with the policies in the ideology of globalization that aim to melt national, ethnic, original, different or other cultures in a single pot, to standardize differences, and to transform the world into a global village. The aim of this article is to examine the concept of abstraction from culture, which is mentioned in the studies conducted at the International School of Theater Anthropology ISTA, with a critical perspective within the scope of globalization. For this purpose, first the concepts of culture, globalization and anthropology were defined. Then, the data collected about the Odin Theater founded by Eugenio Barba and the studies carried out in ISTA were revealed. Then, the application of the concept of abstraction from culture was evaluated. In this context, it has been concluded that the subject is an open field for discussion with the findings obtained in the section where the concept of abstraction from culture is critically evaluated.

 The studies of Eugenio Barba in theatrical anthropology are about the actor, not the anthropological study of traditional cultures or performance. According to his way of thinking, the actor trains his own way of seeing by confronting the culture to which he belongs, and becomes a participant on the one hand and disconnected from his culture on the other. Thus, with the fictional body heshe creates, the actor reconstructs hisher body and exhibits a general stage behavior by denying the naturalness of hisher behaviors that have emerged as a result of the historical and cultural process and shaped according to hisher own culture, in short, isolating himher from hisher culture. Although these studies aim to create an alternative understanding of theater that is against the formal art culture of the West and embraces other cultures, concepts such as fictional body and abstraction from culture seem to match with the policies in the ideology of globalization that aim to melt national, ethnic, original, different or other cultures in a single pot, to standardize differences, and to transform the world into a global village. The aim of this article is to examine the concept of abstraction from culture, which is mentioned in the studies conducted at the International School of Theater Anthropology ISTA, with a critical perspective within the scope of globalization. For this purpose, first the concepts of culture, globalization and anthropology were defined. Then, the data collected about the Odin Theater founded by Eugenio Barba and the studies carried out in ISTA were revealed. Then, the application of the concept of abstraction from culture was evaluated. In this context, it has been concluded that the subject is an open field for discussion with the findings obtained in the section where the concept of abstraction from culture is critically evaluated.

 The studies of Eugenio Barba in theatrical anthropology are about the actor, not the anthropological study of traditional cultures or performance. According to his way of thinking, the actor trains his own way of seeing by confronting the culture to which he belongs, and becomes a participant on the one hand and disconnected from his culture on the other. Thus, with the fictional body heshe creates, the actor reconstructs hisher body and exhibits a general stage behavior by denying the naturalness of hisher behaviors that have emerged as a result of the historical and cultural process and shaped according to hisher own culture, in short, isolating himher from hisher culture. Although these studies aim to create an alternative understanding of theater that is against the formal art culture of the West and embraces other cultures, concepts such as fictional body and abstraction from culture seem to match with the policies in the ideology of globalization that aim to melt national, ethnic, original, different or other cultures in a single pot, to standardize differences, and to transform the world into a global village. The aim of this article is to examine the concept of abstraction from culture, which is mentioned in the studies conducted at the International School of Theater Anthropology ISTA, with a critical perspective within the scope of globalization. For this purpose, first the concepts of culture, globalization and anthropology were defined. Then, the data collected about the Odin Theater founded by Eugenio Barba and the studies carried out in ISTA were revealed. Then, the application of the concept of abstraction from culture was evaluated. In this context, it has been concluded that the subject is an open field for discussion with the findings obtained in the section where the concept of abstraction from culture is critically evaluated.

 Eugenio Barbanın tiyatro antropolojisiyle ilgili araştırmaları, geleneksel kültürlerin ya da gösterimin antropolojisi ile ilgili değil, oyuncuyla ilgilidir. Ona göre oyuncu, ait olduğu kültürle yüzleşme yoluyla, kendi görme biçimini eğitir ve bir yandan katılımcı, bir yandan da kültüründen kopuk hâle gelir. Böylece oluşturduğu yapıntı beden ile kendi kültürüne göre biçimlenmiş davranışlarındaki doğallığı yadsıyarak kısacası onu kültüründen soyutlayarak bedenini yeniden inşa eder ve genel bir sahne davranışı sergiler. Bu çalışmalar, Batının resmî sanatına karşı ve diğer kültürlere kucak açan alternatif bir tiyatro anlayışı oluşturma çabası gibi görünse de yapıntı beden ve kültürden soyutlama gibi kavramlar, küreselleşme ideolojisindeki ulusal, etnik, özgün, farklı ya da öteki olan kültürleri birleştirmeyi, farklılıkları tek tipleştirmeyi, dünyayı küresel bir köye dönüştürmeyi hedefleyen politikalarla örtüşür görünmektedir. Bu makalenin amacı Uluslararası Tiyatro Antropolojisi Okulu ISTAnda yapılan çalışmalarda adı geçen kültürden soyutlama kavramının küreselleşme anlayışı kapsamında eleştirel bir bakış açısıyla ele alınmasıdır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda öncelikle kültür, küreselleşme ve antropoloji kavramları tanımlanmıştır. Daha sonra Barbanın kurmuş olduğu Odin Tiyatrosu ve ISTAda yapılan çalışmalar hakkında toplanan veriler ortaya konmuştur. Ardından kültürden soyutlama kavramının uygulanış biçimi değerlendirilmiştir. Bu kapsamda makalenin kültürden soyutlama kavramının eleştirel bir bakışla değerlendirildiği bölümde elde edilen bulgularla konunun tartışmaya açık bir alan olduğu sonucuna varılmıştır.

Makale detayları

The Concept of “Abstraction From Culture” in Theater Anthropology and Its Evaluation of Globalization

Yazarlar:

Pınar Arık

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Görsel Sanatlar (Diğer)

Dergi:

Art-Sanat Issue 24, pp.519-541

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356344

pISSN:

2148-3582

Culture

Globalization

Theater anthropology

Eugenio Barba

Odin TeatretKültür

Küreselleşme

Tiyatro antropolojisi

Eugenio Barba

Odin Tiyatrosu

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Pınar Arık

Yayıncı: Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar: Görsel Sanatlar (Diğer)

Dergi: Art-Sanat Issue 24, pp.519-541

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 12/2025

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001356344

pISSN: 2148-3582

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Pınar Arık

Yayıncı:

Istanbul University

Ana Başlıklar:

Görsel Sanatlar (Diğer)

Dergi:

Art-Sanat Issue 24, pp.519-541

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2025

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001356344

pISSN:

2148-3582