lament θρήνος The transubstantiation of the pain in a bodily, vocal and/or verbal performance. An expression of a very deep pain by crying, screaming and breast-hitting. A song, piece of music or poem expressing such emotion. For example: the ritual lament for the dead, performed collectively. See also: θρηνώδημα, θρηνωδία (θρήνος+ωδή, lament+ode). Etymology: θρηνώ (to lament), from the ancient […]
language, tongue γλώσσα There have been many linguists trying to interpret the meaning of the complicated term: ‘language’. In her book “Dictionary of Language and Linguistics” (1996), Hadumod Bussmann defines language as “a specific system of signs and combinatory rules which are arbitrary but passed on as conventions.” Language, she says, is a “vehicle for […]
limit όριο Performance, from its very nature as an artistic medium, is connected to the concept of limits. The particular category of contemporary live spectacle embodies elements from visual ‘performance art’ as much as from more extreme articulations from the fields of theatre and dance. Think of the first artists who ‘took refuge’ (the expression […]