Worldmaking

"Dorinne Kondo's work recalls us to the indispensable power of creative art and action during times when prospects for persistence are closing for so many. Brave, passionate, and always incisive, Kondo's work paves the way for those who seek to know the link between art and politics for our time." - Judith Butler

"Sitting at the nexus where critical race theory meets affect theory, this breathtakingly ambitious and fascinating book is as much about how racism functions in the theater world as it is a treatise on the production of race as a naturalized discourse. An important contribution." - John L. Jackson Jr., author of Thin Description: Ethnography and the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem

"Dorinne Kondo's penetrating and insightful book should be required reading for any theater artist who is serious about confronting racism. She brilliantly reminds us of the power of the theater, and of the real responsibility that comes with that power." - Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater

"A timely publication. . . [that] keenly reflects the complexity and entanglements of race, history, politics, representation and contemporary identities in North America." - David J. Scott, The Australian Journal of Anthropology

"Working across disciplines, Kondo reverses the imperative of many scholars to read theory onto performance by instead focusing on the emergence of theory in theater, how it is deployed by theater artists and comes into contact with audiences. . . . For theater makers, Worldmaking serves as another kind of reparative, as it de-centers Eurocentric theatrical models in exchange for processes that enact the minoritarian, the non-hegemonic, the reparative." - Kristen Holfeuer, Women & Performance

“This book … suits courses on theatre, race, and performance, and on ethnographic methods. Crucially, this book expands necessary conversations on race and dramaturgy, and ways in which ‘dramaturgical critique’—conscious of racial logics and embodied meanings—might make and repair theatrical and racial worlds.”

“Worldmaking is a stunning contribution to discussions of racial representation, affect, ethnography, and practice-led research in our post-racial world. Working to ‘defamiliarize’ American theatre for artists and scholars, the book re-evaluates the dichotomies of theory/practice, artistic passion/compensation, and resistance/complicity that are firmly ingrained in our thinking about the arts. The rigour with which Kondo encourages us to reassess artistic practices and scholarly enquiry, however, never verges on harsh criticism. Instead, it is with stirring generosity that she opens up avenues for further enquiry and redress.” - Jessica Nakamura, Modern Drama

“Kondo demonstrates the power of theatre to address the complexities of race in contemporary America not only through what is seen onstage but also in the processes of rehearsal, revision, and reception, as artists question representational authority and negotiate collaboration.”
  - Josephine Lee, Theatre Journal

"Kondo’s Worldmaking explores how artistic approaches might add to anthropological research and offers a multi-layered ethnography of US theatre. This book is also insightful for theatre practitioners and could be used for teaching undergraduates." - Cassis Kilian, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute