Kirjandus kui etendus
Literature as Performance

Summary/Abstract: Proceeding from the paradigm of performance studies literature can be approached as performance, as it involves the copresence of the performer and the onlooker in one and the same room. The paper consists of three parts discussing 1) a literary work as an implicit performance, 2) the oral forms of literature and their relations with writing and performative arts, and 3) literary life as performance. The author argues that the processes of writing, reading and reciting a piece can all be interpreted both as stage production and performance. Moreover, writers can also be taken as performers, not only while making their (rare) public appearances, but also considering their standing role in the community. The theoretical conception is illustrated with examples from Estonian literary life, which has become rather theatrical over the past 15 years, the authors having turned into agents advertising and selling their own works, while literature has become a motivator for various social events, at the same time finding itself new channels outside the printed word.

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