Graduation Year
2010
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Mass Communications
Major Professor
Frederick Steier
Committee Member
Stacy Holman Jones, Ph.D
Committee Member
Jane Jorgenson, Ph.D
Committee Member
Marilyn Myerson, Ph.D
Keywords
Performativity, Performance Theory, Cybernetics, Cyborg, Systems Theory, The Esalen Institute
Abstract
This dissertation is a case study of the public performances of Gregory Bateson at The Esalen Institute. The case study is a reconsideration of the work of Gregory Bateson from the perspective of performance studies. The author brings together performativity, cybernetics, and the sacred to argue that Gregory Bateson, in his public performances, was striving for grace in encounters with others. The author has conducted archival research into Bateson’s presentations and has spoken with several close to Bateson to get a sense of how his process of public presentation paralleled his ideas—a process of continually working through ideas in conversation with others. In his dissertation the author tries to present the work in a form fitting with Bateson's own process.
Scholar Commons Citation
Blaeuer, Daniel Matthew, "An Ecology of Performance: Gregory Bateson's Cybernetic Performance" (2010). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/3510
