1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811402203321

Autore

Bouissac Paul

Titolo

The meaning of the circus : the communicative experience of cult, art, and awe / / Paul Bouissac

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; New York, NY : , : Bloomsbury Academic, , 2018

ISBN

1-350-04416-4

1-350-04415-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (225 pages)

Disciplina

791.3

Soggetti

Circus - Social aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

List of Figures -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Like moths flying to a candle in the night -- 2. Ritual and sacrifice: the circus between cult and art -- 3. The Music is the Message -- 4. Flashback -- 5. Great expectations -- 6. The Ethnography of Memory -- 7. A Sense of Gravity -- 8. To laugh or not to laugh -- 9. Lives under siege -- 10. Where is home? The circus's endless Odyssey -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

"This book documents and discusses the meaning(s) of the creative process at play in the crafting and staging of circus acts. It highlights the experience of circus artists as their skills develop and mature into public performances that create aesthetic and emotional values in the modern economy of live spectacles. It scrutinizes the meaning that circus acts produce for the spectators and for the artists themselves who live this process from the inside.  This is a book for those studying semiotics and wanting to see it applied to a real life milieu in accessible and passionate prose. The Meaning of the Circus is grounded on the personal experience of Professor Paul Bouissac as both a circus entrepreneur and a researcher with decades of primary material on the significance of past and contemporary circus acts. It is based on substantial accounts provided by many men and women who have agreed to share the challenges, joys, and anxieties of their life as artists. Personal and rigorous, it contributes to the hermeneutics of the circus arts by adding existential depth to the production and reception of their performances."--Bloomsbury Publishing.