Searching the silences for the sounds of a "new poetics'in the female voice
Journal Article
2009
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South African Theatre Journal
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Taylor & Francis
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This research proceeds from the belief that the female voice is silent, or is seemingly absent, in theatre. I refer, in this exploration, specifically to the latter half of the twentieth century when the impact of feminist critical theory might have shifted this view of silence and absence. In terms of the female voice in theatre, I refer to the focus given to the voice by performers, directors and playwrights. The term 'the female voice", is used here to refer to multiple aspects of the voice(s) of women in theatre; in performance, it refers to both the sound of the voice and the structural elements or morphology; and in the writing of performance, the words and structure of the text. The complexity implied by the use of this term will reveal itself through my search for the many facets of the sound of the female voice and its structure. The term is also intentionally used to uncover the uniqueness of the female voice and of that which is specific to women and arguably less defined by logocentric or patriarchal structures. A further distinction is made with the use of the term, in a more symbolic and collective sense, to denote the public and political voice of women.
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Reference:
Singer, J. (2009). Searching the silences for the sounds of a" new poetics" in the female voice. SATJ: South African Theatre Journal, 23, 68-83.