Um corpo no outro: a performatividade dos encontros e as narrativas do afeto

Abstract

This search is focused on analyzing the performativity of bodies in relation to the manifestations of encounters in the films Le Navire Night (1979, Marguerite Duras), Toute une nuit (1982, Chantal Akerman), and Vendredi Soir (2002, Claire Denis). It is grounded in the idea of the encounter as a mobilizer of affects, based on the performative potential of bodies within the cinematic scene. The study considers affective practice in the engagement of bodies and the relationships between the character’s body, the camera’s body, and the spectator’s body as an active participant in the construction of the film’s meaning. Drawing from discussions on performance studies, the performative, performance art, and its transformative power, we will base our analysis on authors such as Richard Schechner (2003), Erika Fischer-Lichte (2008), and Peggy Phelan (1996). Regarding the performative-affective approach to the body in cinema, our main theoretical reference is Elena Del Rio (2008). We will also incorporate the theories of André Bazin (2018) regarding the critical positioning of cinema in relation to theater and Steven Shaviro (2015) concerning cinematic experience and perception. To explore the spectator and their engagement with cinema, we will rely on Vivian Sobchack’s (1992) phenomenological perspective on cinema as an embodied experience in the film-spectator relationship, as well as Laura Marks’ (2000) concept of haptic visuality in cinematic imagery.