Peggy Phelan’s research while affiliated with London Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and other places

Theories of Performance: Critical and Primary Sources offers a comprehensive collection of key writings on a subject which has come to permeate fields as diverse as theatre, comparative literature, philosophy, geography, history, English, science and technology studies, in what has been termed the transdisciplinary ‘performative turn’. The collected essays draw upon writing from these diverse disciplines, together illustrating how performance has become an ever more vibrant and plastic discursive practice. It includes perspectives from regions and disciplines less well-represented in performance theory up to now, including from East Asia and the Middle East, as well as from material sciences and engineering, physics, and education theory. Selections also include indigenous and otherwise politically marginalized perspectives from within and outside the academic field of Performance Studies. Each volume is introduced by the editor and arranged thematically, with writings in chronological sequence so that the development of ideas can be traced within a theme. The set includes 90 essays covering the following major areas: discipline, method, documentation, and body politic. Together the four volumes of Theories of Performance present a major scholarly resource for the field.