The body-word: a study of the voices that compose the discursiveness of the actor

Abstract

The present investigation intends to reflect upon the discursiveness of the actor on stage in regards to the concept of dialogue coined by the philosophers of the so called Bakhtinian Circle. According to these ideas every word uttered on the scene assumes three distinct and simultaneous components which are: gestural, verbal and of intonation. From the interaction of these components thrives the gist of enunciation and that which we shall call "body-word". In agreement with Bakhtin, this research considers discourse as a result of the dialogic interaction of "voices". Thereby the principal voices that constitute the body word are as follows: the voice of the "matter-body", the voice of the "imaginary-body", the voice of the "ideologic-body", the voice of the "faith-body". The dialogue of these voices may come from a Heteroglossic (or Plurilinguistic) interaction where voices have the same power, or one that is Polyphonic meaning the voices interact in equipotency. In order to analyze the composition process of the mentioned "words" I have chosen for objects the interpreters of "Primus", by "Boa Companhia" from Campinas (SP), and "Prometheus-a tragédia do fogo" by "Cia de Teatro Balagan" from São Paulo (SP). My search is therefore to comprehend the process of discursive composition of the actor, considering their influences, body techniques, through games and imagination, their cultural influences, ethical and theoretical, and lastly, through means of their relationship with intuition. (AU)