Performing Religion in Public

From a South African Passion Play to Turkish Sufi tourism, from contemporary street preaching in America to public Hindu rites in India, from cloistered prayer in 17th century France to the queer politics of 'the closet' today, Performing Religion in Public brings together an international array of voices that grapple with the important role of religious performance in our secular public lives. Because traditional notions of the public sphere have emphasized rational discourse in a secular setting, religion has often been excluded. But religious life is not impersonal argument; rather, it is passionately performed, crossing boundaries between public and private, the personal and the political, and claiming a significant role in modern democracies, from everyday cultural interactions to political advocacy. By focusing on the performative nature of both religion and publics, this timely volume offers a fresh and fruitful re-conception of the relationship between religion and the public sphere.

Joshua Edelman is Fellow in Research and Enterprise at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, UK, where he writes on the overlaps between religion, politics, theatre and performance in contemporary society. He is co-convener of the IFTR's Performance and Religion working group and a member of the Project on European Theatre Systems.

Claire Maria Chambers is Assistant Professor of Drama at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. She analyses the performance of religion in contemporary culture and politics through the rhetoric of liturgy and ritual, and approaches the playwright as performance theorist. Previous publications include articles in Performance Research, Performance and Spirituality, Liturgy, and Ecumenica.

Simon W. du Toit has taught at the University of Windsor, Canada, and Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, USA, where he was Theatre Department Chair. His research interests include cultural performance, religion, and theatre history. Previous publications include work in Liturgy, Ecumenica, and the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism.