The Performative Power of Vocality

Reviews / Votes

Honorable Mention from The American Theatre and Drama Society's John W. Frick Book Award, honoring the best monograph published each year on theatre and performance of/in the Americas.

"We were impressed by the breadth of Magnat's research which brings together elements of quantum physics, sound theory, anthropology, philosophy, the work of Grotowski as well as the research of Indigenous scholars in many fields to elucidate what happens in and through vocality and especially in the sharing of songs in language inherited from ancestors. We were equally impressed by Magnat's methodology which models what Anishinaabe scholar Jill Carter calls a 'relational shift' toward the creation of truly respectful and dialogical conversations between Western and Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies. From the creation of an Indigenous Advisory Committee to ensure best practices to Magnat's self-reflective engagement with her ancestors, be they familial in Occitania, a region of France with its own distinct culture and language, or academic (Magnat was trained in and is a scholar of the Grotowski tradition and French theory), [she] models decolonizing scholarship in important ways."

Award Committee: Henry Bial, University of Kansas (chair); Julie Burelle, UC-San Diego; Shane Vogel, Yale University

"At a time when many voice practitioners are striving to decolonize their studios, classrooms, pedagogy, and practice, Virginie Magnat has provided us with a concrete example of how, through embodied inquiry, the dominant Eurocentric systems of the academy may be decentralized in voice training and performance studies. This volume proves that Western and Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies exist not only in conversation, but also potentially merge into new methodologies. Radical, innovative, and thought-provoking, The Performative Power of Vocality would be valuable to both researchers and artist-scholars committed to the decolonization of vocality, and it will serve as an important model for a new way forward in the field of voice studies."

Shannon Holmes, Voice and Speech Review 2021, 1-3 Honorable Mention from The American Theatre and Drama Society's John W. Frick Book Award, honoring the best monograph published each year on theatre and performance of/in the Americas.

"We were impressed by the breadth of Magnat's research which brings together elements of quantum physics, sound theory, anthropology, philosophy, the work of Grotowski as well as the research of Indigenous scholars in many fields to elucidate what happens in and through vocality and especially in the sharing of songs in language inherited from ancestors. We were equally impressed by Magnat's methodology which models what Anishinaabe scholar Jill Carter calls a 'relational shift' toward the creation of truly respectful and dialogical conversations between Western and Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies. From the creation of an Indigenous Advisory Committee to ensure best practices to Magnat's self-reflective engagement with her ancestors, be they familial in Occitania, a region of France with its own distinct culture and language, or academic (Magnat was trained in and is a scholar of the Grotowski tradition and French theory), [she] models decolonizing scholarship in important ways."

Award Committee: Henry Bial, University of Kansas (chair); Julie Burelle, UC-San Diego; Shane Vogel, Yale University

"At a time when many voice practitioners are striving to decolonize their studios, classrooms, pedagogy, and practice, Virginie Magnat has provided us with a concrete example of how, through embodied inquiry, the dominant Eurocentric systems of the academy may be decentralized in voice training and performance studies. This volume proves that Western and Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies exist not only in conversation, but also potentially merge into new methodologies. Radical, innovative, and thought-provoking, The Performative Power of Vocality would be valuable to both researchers and artist-scholars committed to the decolonization of vocality, and it will serve as an important model for a new way forward in the field of voice studies."

Shannon Holmes, Voice and Speech Review 2021, 1-3