Seeds: Contracting the Audience in a Play about Science

Abstract

In pursuing the question ‘what can scientists learn from theatre?’ Particularly, ‘what can scientists, as scientists, learn from theatre?’ this paper argues that science lacks a normative framework that theatre is capable of providing. Despite science’s well-earned epistemic reputation, there is adequate reason to question its ethical reputation, particularly at the point where cutting edge scientific technology impacts society. I consider science as operating in four categories: the scientific method; the scientific hypothesis; the scientific experiment; and the scientist’s personal character. The realms of the scientist’s hypothesis and personal character are those where social pressures are reciprocally exerted, where imaginative play mentality and epistemic values are most in evidence. Theatre can examine these realms effectively because it is able to use narratives that appeal not only to logical and social moral judgements but to emotional and visceral responses, so as to situate science in the social context in which the pressures of law, funding, experimentation, society, and personal ambition converge in ‘the game of life’.

This can be seen in the theatrical process known as ‘contracting with the audience’. I point out a spectrum of traditional narrative tropes by which science makes “contracts with” audiences. The paper draws on theories of entrainment and theatrical game-play from Peter Stromberg and Philippe Gaulier, as well as my own practice and research into the process of contracting with the audience, to propose how to reach beyond tradition and to shift normalising contracts “outside the box”. To illustrate my proposition, I examine the play Seeds by Annabel Soutar as directed by Chris Abraham for Crow’s Theatre and Theatre Porte Parole. Seeds follows the controversial court battles of Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser against agricultural-biotech corporation Monsanto, which sued him for patent infringement of its Genetically Modified Organism Roundup Ready Canola. Seeds helps its audience define a public arena for discourse even as it brings to our attention the factors that make this difficult to do, while making an excellent contribution to the genre of ‘Documentary Theatre’. It is a successful contract with the audience that creates a public forum for discussion about contemporary ethical debates in science, thereby merging artistic ambiguity and scientific theory.     

郑珍为诗取径的主次分轨

郑珍为诗,要在学韩,本于叙议,出于学问。兹论分轨所由,多自学韩而出,及其所之,则上下唐宋。以宋人学韩,故郑珍学宋,盖亦学韩一路,得于宋人句法、苏黄驰骋才学及宋诗机趣。韩从杜出,故郑诗学韩,与学杜无悖,多在即事、叙述及诗语祖述。郑诗略近孟诗者,固以遭际相似,而有情感认同,不似孟郊刻厉;似乐天、太白,则以学韩叙议,造语至于敷衍散漫;似李贺,则以郑诗奇气在焉,而用语固有取用;小诗有似王维者,悉写乡居生活、片时风景、一时感受,拟之贴切。     

试论《语丝》时期江绍原的“天癸观”研究

在民俗学研究中国化的早期阶段,江绍原是最先引进国外人类学方法系统研究中国礼俗迷信的拓荒者,他对中国人“天癸观”的研究特别引人注目。当时处于民俗学运动中心的江绍原在成为《语丝》周刊主要撰稿人之后,开始扩大范围征集有关月经的礼俗迷信材料,取得了一定的成绩。尽管后来他计划写作的《血与天癸》不幸夭折,但他在月经礼俗迷信研究方面的大胆尝试具有深远的学术影响。     

论湘西会战和芷江受降的历史地位

在中国抗日战争和世界反法西斯战争胜利的前夕,湖南发生了两件大事:湘西会战和芷江受降。这两件大事对中国乃至世界都有重要的历史意义,足以彪炳史册。     

论中国哲学人生

阴阳是中国哲学最基本的观念,中国哲学人生的三大流派,即渊源于阴阳观念。法家的人生哲学,强调个人奋斗,自我扩张,以坚强的毅力与意志,以实现既定的目标。所谓吃得苦中苦,方为人上人,便是法家哲学人生的真实写照。道家的哲学人生,以阴柔为主,强调因循自然,清静无为,不要追名逐利,不汲汲于富贵,人生的目的是逍遥与自在。儒家的哲学人生,以阴阳协调,刚柔并济为重,讲究中庸之道,强调以仁爱与礼节,完善自我,走修身、齐家、治国、平天下之路,从而成为中国人生哲学的正宗,对中国文人产生了巨大的影响。本文将根据历史的实例,对中国三派的哲学人生作出具体的分析     

《全唐诗》载吕温二首诗均为伪诗说 --《全唐诗》杂考之一

《全唐诗》所载吕温二首诗（《嘲柳州柳子厚》、《嘲黔南观察南卓》）与吕温的事迹不符．均为伪诗,且两诗在录写时有笔误。     

信访工作在建国初期社会建设中的作用

建国后人民群众通过来信来访的方式向党和政府反映大量的社会问题,主要集中在失业问题、干部的官僚主义和违法乱纪问题以及三农问题。信访工作在建国初期对于化解各种社会矛盾和推动社会建设起了重要作用。     

“WITHOUT THINKERS … NO THEORIES OF THE WORLD”

Tim Crane's books Aspects of Psychologism and The Objects of Thought present a perspective on human intentionality based on internalism about mental contents. Crane understands intentionality as the defining aspect of the mental. The theory of intentionality that he formulates is similar to that of John Searle when it comes to ontological commitments, but it is also marked by a more traditional approach that retains the concept of intentional objects as its central aspect. In this review I examine the implications of Crane's internalism for the philosophy of history, by comparing his views with some well‐known arguments in favor of externalism about mental contents, such as Hilary Putnam's “Twin Earth” and Tyler Burge's “arthritis” mental experiments. Although internalism about mental contents such as Crane's is a minority view among contemporary analytic philosophers, I argue that it has significant advantages when it comes to the philosophy of history, because it is much better aligned with standard interpretive procedures in historical research. At the same time, externalism about mental contents typically results in inappropriate contextualizations and approaches that most practicing historians will find awkward. More generally, it is possible to argue that over decades, analytic philosophers’ externalist tendencies have significantly contributed to the reduced interest in their views among philosophers of history. The final section of the article reviews the implication of Crane's views on nonconceptual contents of human perception for art historiography.     

Can Lost Maps Speak? Toward a Cultural History of Map Reading in Medieval China

Despite the fact that virtually no Chinese maps have survived from the first millennium, it is nonetheless possible to reconstruct a rich context associated with their production, use and perception from a variety of written sources. Three cases from the Tang dynasty (618–907 ce) are presented in this article in which the characteristics of the missing maps emerge through their associated texts, which have outlasted them. These examples include two documents that once accompanied maps presented to the emperor and an anecdote that refers to a map of the remote southern frontier. They demonstrate that the maps were designed not only to encapsulate imperial territory but also to serve as guideposts for aspirational travel. They were also perceived by their users as invitations to experiences both desirable and undesirable.     

《黔诗纪略补》之“补”的意义——以谢士章诗为例

《黔诗纪略》和《黔诗纪略后编》是贵州诗歌总集的集大成之作,附于《后编》之后的《黔诗纪略补》属“黔诗纪略”系列之三,它收录了未见于《黔诗纪略》的明代诗人谢士章的诗歌六十八首。谢士章复杂的身世、诗作曾遭禁毁的客观事实以及其在诗歌创作上的较高成就决定《黔诗纪略补》作为一部辑补性质的总集具有重要的意义。