Using Art to Resist Epistemic Injustice

Contention ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo H. Dalaqua
Keyword(s):  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Epistemic Injustice ◽  
Augusto Boal ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Democratic Freedom

This article argues that the aesthetics of the oppressed—a series of artistic practices elaborated by Augusto Boal that comprises the theatre of the oppressed, the rainbow of desire technique, and legislative theatre—utilizes art in order to resist epistemic injustice and promote democratic freedom. By constraining people’s ability to know and explore the potentialities of their bodies and desires, epistemic injustice perpetuates oppression and blocks the advent of democratic freedom. Whereas the theatre of the oppressed tackles corporal oppression, the rainbow of desire technique resists psychological oppression by encouraging the oppressed to critically examine their desires and self-knowledge. Finally, legislative theatre furthers democratic freedom by allowing citizens to protest against any epistemic injustice that might result from the enactment of laws made by representatives.

scholarly journals Más allá de los cuerpos dóciles. El teatro de Eve Ensler como proyecto ‘boaliano’

2012 ◽  
pp. 131-161
Author(s):  
Marta Fernández Morales
Keyword(s):  
Female Body ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Dominant Culture ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
Vagina Monologues ◽  
And Control ◽  
Eve Ensler

In an interview that was published in 2001, U.S-born playwright Eve Ensler stated that her mission as an author and performer was to raise the consciousness of her audience about atrocity and injustice. Most of her plays, including the well-known and often staged The Vagina Monologues (1998), are devoted to the denunciation of atrocity and injustice as they are inscribed on the female body. In Ensler’s production, women and girls are placed at the narrative and dramaturgical centre, and their bodies become the source of anger and rage, but also of self-knowledge, rebellion, pleasure, and sisterhood. Within a potentially Boalian framework which intends to transform the audience, encouraging it to assume the role of an agent, Ensler articulates proposals that give voice to the female body as sexed cultural matter, in the line of The Good Body (2001), Fur Is Back (2007), and I Am an Emotional Creature (2010). My objective here will be to try and prove that Ensler’s theatrical praxis has a place within Augusto Boal’s (1931- 2009) universe of the Theatre of the Oppressed, and that her work is also developed around the aim of overcoming the Foucaultian concept of a ‘docile body’, urging girls and women to empower themselves precisely from a locus that the dominant culture has tried to objectify and control through its discursive practices: their body.

scholarly journals Theatre of the oppressed: linking research, political commitment and pedagogical perspectives

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Alessandro Tolomelli
Keyword(s):  
Personal Experience ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Paulo Freire ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
The Political ◽  
European Research ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Augusto Boal ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Research Action

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1807-1384.2016v13n3p43The intellectual path of Augusto Boal ran parallel with his own life. “A path made by walking”, we can say using Machado’s words. In my personal experience, working as an educator I discovered the necessity of a pedagogical framework to sustain the practice; thinking as educationalist I realized the importance of the political meanings of education; acting as a Theatre of the Oppressed professional I understood the importance of keeping links between theory and praxis, personal and academic research. To summarize, in this paper I try to connect some points between pedagogy, politics and research using the method of the Theatre of the Oppressed as a framework. The first part described the reasons of my interest in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed (P. Freire) and then on the Theatre of the Oppressed (A. Boal). Later on, the focus is on the meaning of the words ‘theatre’ and ‘oppression’ to explain the aims and the roots of the Theatre of the Oppressed. At the end of the paper the project is presented: “TOgether”, a European research-action path aimed at constructing a curriculum for the Theatre of the Oppressed trainer as well as experimenting with the aesthetic potential of the method.Teatro do oprimido: pesquisa da ligação, compromisso político e perspectivas pedagógicasA trajetória intelectual de Augusto Boal correu em paralelo com sua própria vida. "Um caminho feito a pé", usando as palavras de Machado. Na minha experiência pessoal trabalhando como educador, eu descobri a necessidade de uma estrutura pedagógica para sustentar a prática. Pensando como educador, eu percebi a importância do significado político da educação. Agindo como um profissional do Teatro do Oprimido, eu compreendi a importância de manter ligações entre teoria e prática, a vida pessoal e a pesquisa acadêmica. Para resumir, neste artigo eu tento conectar alguns pontos entre a pedagogia, política e pesquisa utilizando o método do Teatro do Oprimido como estrutura. Na primeira parte descrevi as razões de meu interesse na Pedagogia do Oprimido (Paulo Freire), e em seguida, no Teatro do Oprimido (Augusto Boal). Posteriormente, o foco é no significado das palavras "teatro" e "opressão" para explicar os objetivos e as raízes do Teatro do Oprimido. No final do artigo o projeto "TOgether" é apresentado: a trajetória de uma pesquisa-ação europeia destinada à construção de um currículo para o formador do Teatro do Oprimido, bem como experiências com o potencial estético do método. 

Theatre of the Oppressed Workshops with Women: An Interview with Augusto Boal

1990 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Boal ◽  
Jan Cohen-Cruz ◽  
Mady Schutzman
Keyword(s):  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Augusto Boal

scholarly journals Applied Theatre in Peacebuilding and Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-60
Author(s):  
Jeff Aguiar
Keyword(s):  
Peace Education ◽  
Social Ontology ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Peace Studies ◽  
Active Engagement ◽  
Augusto Boal ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Settings ◽  
Applied Theatre

Blending autoethnographic approaches with critical analysis, this article explores the intersection of arts-based praxis in peacebuilding and development in peace studies and conflict resolution (PS/CR). In recent decades, arts-based approaches have emerged across the globe in post-conflict settings. Applied, or process, theatre constitutes a social ontology, analysing and digesting experiences and an acceptance of multiple methods that inform research, theory, and practice. Similar to experiential education, applied theatre methodology connects research, theory, and practice in an integrative setting, but how does it resonate with PS/CR in practice? How can peace practitioners access arts-based praxis in development efforts? What benefits do such approaches provide? The author proposes that applied theatre principles, inspired by Augusto Boal and his system called Theatre of the Oppressed, can strengthen existing connections between peace education and peacebuilding practice, whilst also providing opportunities to enhance leader and learner benefit through active engagement in various settings.

Augusto Boal and the Woman in Lima: a Poetic Encounter

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dwyer
Keyword(s):  
Performance Studies ◽  
Theoretical Foundation ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Augusto Boal ◽  
Emerging Culture ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University

Twenty-five years after the landmark publication of Theatre of the Oppressed, there is no denying the continuing influence of Augusto Boal on theatre practitioners, community workers, and political activists worldwide. To judge by the number of recent publications by or about Boal (including five best-selling books from Routledge in little more than a decade), the ‘Boal Boom’ shows no evidence of decline. There is also, however, an emerging culture of critique around various aspects of the theory and practice of Theatre of the Oppressed; and in the following article, Paul Dwyer argues that a reflexive, critical approach to using Boal's techniques should begin with an acknowledgement that they are not based on a stable theoretical foundation. Rather, the underlying principles, articulated by Boal in the many anecdotes that fill his books, lectures, and workshops, appear to have shifted over the years to become more closely aligned with the expectations of his audience. The theory of Theatre of the Oppressed should thus be seen as a co-creation for which the readers and propagators of Boal's work share a significant responsibility. Paul Dwyer is a lecturer in the Department of Performance Studies at the University of Sydney.

scholarly journals Forum theatre as a tool for unveiling gender issues in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) working environments

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93
Author(s):  
Susanne Taina Ramalho Maciel ◽  
Caroline Siqueira Gomide ◽  
Thatianny Alves de Lima Silva ◽  
Gustavo Braga Alcântara ◽  
Cynara Kern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Gender Issues ◽  
Women In Science ◽  
Theatre Of The Oppressed ◽  
Augusto Boal ◽  
Working Environments ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Problems And Solutions ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
And Mathematics

Abstract. Gender affects all aspects of life, and the working and learning environments of science, technology, engineering and geosciences present no exception. Gender issues concerning the access, permanence and ascension of women in exact sciences and Earth sciences careers in general are related to a variety of causes. The underrepresentation of women in science communications, sexual or moral harassment caused by professors and colleagues during undergraduate and graduate ages or the overloading of girls, when compared to boys, with housework during early school ages are some examples mentioned in the literature. In other words, the gender imbalance in science and technology careers may be seen as the result of a series of structured oppression suffered by women of all ages. In this context, we propose the development of an education package that is designed to understand these processes at different levels. One of the tools of this package is known as the “Theatre of the Oppressed”. Elaborated on by Augusto Boal in the 1970s, the Theatre of the Oppressed uses theatre techniques as a means of promoting social and political changes. Usually, a scene takes place that reveals a situation of oppression. The audience become what is called “spect-actors”, where they become active by exploring, showing and transforming the reality in which they are living. In the context of gender issues in exact sciences careers, the students can stage situations that reveal the subtle actions of power relations that usually put women in subservient positions. Our experience showed that, even though the acting is based on fiction, the spectators learn a great deal from the enactment because the simulation of real-life situations, problems and solutions stimulates the practice of resisting oppression in reality from within a setting that offers a safe space to practise making a change.

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