Performing Fantasy and Reality in Contemporary Culture (Routledge Advances in Sociology)

We frequently engage with that which we consciously perceive not to be real, yet fantasy, despite its pervasive presence and strong role in everyday life through its connection to identities, communities, desires, and meanings, has yet to be properly defined and researched. This book examines fantasy from a performance theory perspective. Drawing on multidisciplinary literature, it presents ethnographic and art-based research on live action role-playing games to explore fantasy as a bodily and negotiated phenomenon that involves various kinds of engagement with one’s surroundings. Overall, this book is a study of various forms and roles that fantasy can take on as part of contemporary Western culture. The study suggests that fantasy emerges as a different type of interpretation of normalised performance and reality, and can thus provide individuals with the tools to wield agency in everyday life. The book will appeal to scholars of sociology, cultural and media studies, literature and performance studies. About the Author Anastasia Seregina is a Lecturer in Consumer Research at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work is based in consumer culture research, but is interdisciplinary, encompassing such fields, as consumer research, sociology, anthropology, performance studies, literature studies, art education, and media studies. Anastasia is also a practicing visual artist, with the focus of her artistic work often overlapping with her academic endeavours. As part of her practice, Anastasia is developing various performance-based and art-based research methodologies. In both her artistic and academic work, she explores the role and meaning of consumption in contemporary culture, specifically focusing on topics of fantasy, imagination, and aesthetics. Performing Fantasy and Reality in Contemporary Culture- Front Cover Performing Fantasy and Reality in Contemporary Culture Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of illustrations Figures Table Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction Fantasy in contemporary consumer culture Defining and delimiting fantasy Exploring lived fantasy through LARP Research approach and methods Cultural context and limitations The structure Notes References Chapter 2: Perspectives on fantasy Historical discourses of fantasy Fantasy in relation to reality Belief in fantasy Approaches to fantasy Fantasy as lived bodily experience Notes References Chapter 3: Performance Engaging with performance Social and aesthetic performance Aesthetic theatrical performance Stanislavski’s typology of aesthetic performance Iskusstvo perezhivaniya Iskusstvo predstavleniya Notes References Chapter 4: The LARP performance Before the LARP event During the LARP event After the LARP event Notes References Chapter 5: Fantasy performance The self in fantasy performance Interaction in fantasy performance Social space in fantasy performance Experiencing lived fantasy Notes References Chapter 6: Types of fantasy performances Comparing fantasy performances Differing fantasy performances Notes References Chapter 7: Conclusions References Index We frequently engage with that which we consciously perceive not to be real, yet fantasy, despite its pervasive presence and strong role in everyday life through its connection to identities, communities, desires, and meanings, has yet to be properly defined and researched. This book examines fantasy from a performance theory perspective. Drawing on multidisciplinary literature, it presents ethnographic and art-based research on live action role-playing games to explore fantasy as a bodily and negotiated phenomenon that involves various kinds of engagement with one's surroundings. Overall, this book is a study of various forms and roles that fantasy can take on as part of contemporary Western culture. The study suggests that fantasy emerges as a different type of interpretation of normalised performance and reality, and can thus provide individuals with the tools to wield agency in everyday reality. The book will appeal to scholars of sociology, cultural and media studies, literature and performance studies. A study of the different forms that fantasy can take and its everyday role as part of contemporary Western culture, this book examines fantasy from a performance theory perspective.