Back in the 60s other things were happening too that could be called a global trend. Dozens of formally colonized territories had been given independence. The former British and French empires had ceased to exist, saved for a few territories. In many of these countries, a generation of scholars and artists had been educated in Colonial capitals. And, now we're turned to help build their new nations. They included playwrights, directors, and actors. And, their aim was to create a modern theatrical culture combining both the European practices they had been trained in, and the indigenous performance traditions they grew up in. This was a process of theatrical syncretism, or interweaving. Erika Fischer-Lichte, we're here at the center of inter, interweaving performance cultures in Berlin. So can, perhaps to begin, can you sort of explain what you mean by this concept, interweaving performance cultures? >> This describes a kind of connectivity in which cultures meet through performance. But one has to consider that this does not lead to any kind of homogenization. Rather, this is a process that brings forth continuously new differences, and very specific differences. That's, in my view, one of the most important things, because this challenges deeply all these kind of concepts of the fixed and stable identity. We, believe, to, to use this word, we believe, in fluid and constantly changing, identities. And another important aspect of this, is, given that it does not take place only in a so-called purely aesthetic sphere. It is inextricably linked to questions of economic power, migration, what we call corpo-realities, and, of course, identity politics. And, many strategies of adaptation, appropriation, translation have to be considered. In the western world, it started already very early I would say. It was with Voltaire's L'Orphelin de la Chine, appropriating texts from other cultures. And since the Chinese culture is a culture with a rich literature and a long traditional literature, it was easy to go there. He said, he proclaimed that he had found the essence of the Chinese-ness in his play. But it's, of course, typically a French tragedy. >> I know that you've been working a lot on Ibsen or have worked on Ibsen in a more global context. What would be some interesting examples there of interweaving? >> It was 1909, or 1911, some about that. >> Yeah. That John Gabriel Bookman was put on stage, half Kabuki, half western style. And then very soon, the Doll's House, it followed very soon. And, and this was already a product of the new training school for actors. And she was the first also, the actress who did the first woman who was allowed to act in Japan. The Emperor had allowed it. >> So the staging a play like the Doll's House in Japan actually then had an effect on, should we say, gender relations on the Japanese stage. >> This had an enormous effect in society. And one can say, I mean, it's so clear that it was a product of the modernizing process that started in Japan. That many artists thought that they can not deal with the problems coming up appropriately when just using Nô and Kabuki They need a new form. [MUSIC] >> Interweaving is a form of connectivity, in which different cultures meet through performance. Continuously producing specific differences, and thereby questioning fixed concepts of cultural identity. Processes of interweaving are inextricably linked to questions of economic power, migration, corpo-realities and identity politics, as well as the strategies of appropriation and translation. They point us forward to the final module in which we will explore festivalization, megamusicals, and new forms of global theatrical media.
