Body Language, the Idea of the Actress, and Some Nineteenth-Century Actress-Heroines

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (31) ◽  
pp. 226-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Hankey

The actor, as a reminder of personal mutability, has always provoked the condemnation of absolutist philosophers and churchmen. Historically, this anti-theatrical prejudice has pressed even harder on the actress, for in her case ‘personal’ connotes sexual mutability. In Victorian times, when purity was enjoined on Woman for Man's sake as well as her own, the actress's situation was further complicated. In the following article, Julie Hankey examines the treatment of actress-characters in certain novels of the nineteenth century – Wilkie Collin's No Name, Geraldine Jewsbury's The Half-Sisters, George Eliot's Daniel Deronda, and Henry James's The Tragic Muse, among others – exploring in particular their peculiarly physical system of representation, a system which reproduced the social and moral attitudes of the day on a more visceral level of irrational prejudice. Irrespective of their artistry or sympathies, authors were remarkably consistent in their use of the same relatively narrow but at the same time powerful range of signals – dress, pose, interiors, gardens, flowers, and so on – clearly confident that by this means the actress could be adequately expressed. Julie Hankey is presently co-editor of the ‘Plays and Performance’ series, now published by Cambridge University Press, and has herself prepared the individual volumes on Richard III and Othello.

1997 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Brustad ◽  
Michelle Ritter-Taylor

Psychological processes in sport are inextricably linked to the social contexts within which they occur. However, research and practice in applied sport psychology have shown only marginal concern for the social dimensions of participation. As a consequence of stronger ties to clinical and counseling psychology than to social psychology, the prevailing model of intervention in applied sport psychology has been individually centered. Focus at the individual level has been further bolstered by cognitive emphases in modem psychology. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for a balanced consideration of social and personal influences. Four social psychological dimensions of interest will be explored, including athletic subculture membership; athletic identity concerns; social networks of influence; and leadership processes. The relevance of these forms of influence will be examined in relation to applied concerns in the areas of athlete academic performance, overtraining and burnout, and disordered eating patterns. At minimum, consultants need to address contextual and relational correlates of psychological and performance issues.


Author(s):  
Luc J. Martin ◽  
David J. Hancock ◽  
Jean Côté

Talent development in sport is achieved through years of preparation and requires constant interaction between personal and contextual resources. Accordingly, extensive research has been dedicated to understanding factors that contribute to sport performance. Literature suggests the factors influencing athletic development can be classified in terms of the physical environment, the social environment, and engaging learning activities. Investigations pertaining to the physical environment suggest the importance of appropriate settings, which can relate to the sport organization or the larger community. Researchers must also cogitate the activities in which athletes take part. These considerations involve the maturational status of athletes, the volume of deliberate practice and play, and early specialization versus diversification. Finally, the salience of the social environment in relation to sport performance cannot be overlooked. Not surprisingly, the relations established with social agents (i.e., coaches, peers/teammates, parents) can facilitate or impede the developmental process. Consequently, the development of athletes in the context of sport and performance psychology extends past the individual and is influenced by several factors that must be discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 38-40

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Traditional ritualistic annual appraisals are no longer favored, with many companies loosening the relationship between performance ratings and pay. The social and psychological aspects of appraisals are often overlooked. A balance of informal and formal processes is important, with continual feedback and dialogue. The skillset of managers is key to ensuring employees feel satisfied with the process and view outcomes as being fair. A good employment relationship thus leads to increased employee cooperation and performance, and increased outcomes for both the individual and the organization. Originality The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-142
Author(s):  
Kim Marra

In two compelling new books, each analyzing a sensational female star whose career peaked in the late nineteenth century, the multifaceted celebrity image becomes the historical prism refracting the social, political, and cultural dynamics of various performance contexts. Neither study purports to chronicle the star's entire life and document truths about “who she really was.” Rather, each focuses on a relatively brief, temporally circumscribed period of the performer's career and examines her complex public personae and their meanings to her American audiences. Ultimately, more is revealed about the values of those who consumed and exploited the star than about the star herself. The two celebrities at issue here, Adah Isaacs Menken and Sarah Bernhardt, separated in time by a generation, compare in intriguing ways, both as historical agents and as subjects of historiographical analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1199-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Burt ◽  
Sonja Opper

Political connection in China is often tested for correlation with business success and government support under a suspicion that connected entrepreneurs enjoy special favors and protection. Research evidence is mixed. In revisiting the debate on political capital in China, we apply a socially embedded perspective on political connection. To this end we introduce two methodological innovations: (a) We develop a broader measure of political connectedness that covers the continuum from political connection to disconnection. (b) We integrate data on political connection with social network data. Specifically, we explore how the social structure around the individual entrepreneur affects performance above and beyond the often tested association between political ties and performance. We draw two conclusions: (1) The success association with political connection is discontinuous. Advantage is less for entrepreneurs weakly connected politically, but significant additional disadvantage arises for the politically disconnected. (2) The additional is that entrepreneurs disconnected from government show no benefit from having an advantaged business network. The politically connected with an advantaged business network show more prosperous business, higher returns on assets, and more likely survival over time. The politically disconnected show none of these benefits. We caution the entrepreneur who plans to ignore the government.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey ◽  
Eric F. Clarke

The nineteenth century saw a number of significant changes in European musical culture, including changes in the size and nature of the orchestra and the rise of the modern conductor. The coordination and musical leadership of orchestras has taken a variety of forms historically, but from around the middle of the nineteenth century silent conducting gradually began to supplant other forms of time keeping and instrumental leadership in opera and concert orchestras. Little or no empirical work has attempted to investigate the musical, social and perceptual consequences of this development, largely due to the technical challenges that must be addressed. This article describes the development and implementation of innovative digital methods to provide a detailed and multifaceted picture of a large ensemble in action, investigating the consequences of different distributions of individual musical agency for: 1) musicians’ playing experiences; 2) ensemble coordination and expressive timing; and 3) listeners’ evaluations. These methods include a polling application, implemented on participants’ smartphones, to provide fast-turnaround feedback from orchestral musicians about their experiences of playing under different conditions; and the use of digital methods to analyse acoustical data from the individual instruments of an orchestral string section, to facilitate a quantitative analysis of orchestral togetherness. Analyses of the experiential, quantitative and listener data from a preliminary study with an orchestra of musicians from the Royal Academy of Music, London, are presented, together with a discussion of the insights that these methods provide. The article concludes by considering the prospects of these methods for investigating nineteenth-century rehearsal and performance practices.


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