Chained into That Machine: John Jesurun’s Mediaturgical Adaptations
Keywords:
John Jesurun, mediaturgical adaptations, intermedial performance, communication theory, theater studies, adaptation studiesAbstract
This article analyzes John Jesurun’s experimental theater adaptations, focusing on his mediaturgical approach to communication and perception. The paper explores how Jesurun’s work challenges conventional notions of adaptation and multi-media performance through a process-based perspective. The author contends that Jesurun’s adaptations, such as Everything That Rises Must Converge (1990), Faust/How I Rose (1996), and Philoktetes (1993-2007), utilize intermedial techniques to expose the mechanisms of perception and interpretation. This study examines Jesurun’s use of multi-media elements to create a fragmented narrative that highlights the challenges of reconciling diverging languages, objectives, and values. The article argues that Jesurun’s mediaturgical adaptations facilitate a deeper understanding of cross-medial communication in networked societies. The significance of this work lies in its potential to reshape critical perspectives on adaptation studies by focusing on processes of signification rather than fidelity to source texts.(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
References
Auslander, Philip. Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Bassnett, Susan. “Translating Genre.” Genre Matters. Eds. Garin Dowd, Lesley Stevenson, and Jeremy Strong. Bristol: Intellect, 2006. 85-95. Print.
Bloom, Harold. The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry. 2nd ed.. New York: Oxford UP., 1997. Print.
Bolter, Jay David with Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999. Print.
Callens, Johan. “The Builders Association: S/he Do the Police in Different Voices.” The Wooster Group and its Traditions. Ed. Johan Callens. Brussels: PIE-Peter Lang, 2004. 247-261. Print.
Cattrysse, Patrick. “Media Translation: Plea for an Interdisciplinary Approach.” Versus: Quaderni di studi semiotici 85-87 (2000): 251- 269. Print.
Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de. Building the Earth and the Psychological Conditions of Human Unification. New York: Avon, 1969. Print.
Farley, Kathrin. “Review of Faust/How I Rose.” Theatre Journal 57.3 (2005): 507-509. Print.
Feingold, Michael. “Faust Things First: Bilingual, Time-Jumping, and Polycultural, John Jesurun Scrambles Goethe’s Mystic Egghead.” Village Voice 7 Sep. 2004: 85. Print.
Fried, Ronald K. “John Jesurun’s Chang in a Void Moon.” The Drama Review 27.2 (1983): 73-77. Print.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. Faust. Eine Tragödie. München: Römersche Verlagsanstalt, 1949. Print.
Gholson, Craig. “John Jesurun.” BOMB 11 (1985): 90-91. Print.
Hagan, John. “John Hagan on John Jesurun.” Art Forum International 38.2 (1999): 124. Print.
Helbo, André. “Performance Studies.” Approaching Theater. Ed. André Helbo, J. Dines Johansen, Patrice Pavis, and Anne Ubersfeld. Bloomington: Indiana UP., 1991. 1-20. Print.
------. Signes du spectacle: Des arts vivants aux medias. Brussels: PIE-Peter Lang, 2006. Print.
Hofstadter, Douglas. I Am A Strange Loop. New York: Basic Books, 2007. Print.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Theory of Adaptation. New York and London: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Jesurun, John. “Breaking the Relentless Spool of Film Unrolling.” Felix: A Journal of Media Arts 1.3 (1993): 64-69. Print.
------. Chang in a Void Moon. ‘Living Film Serial’ (1983 – present; 62 episodes as of April 2014). Theatre Production.
------. “Deep Sleep.” Wordplays 5: An Anthology of New American Drama. New York: PAJ, 1986. 223-304. Print.
------. Everything That Rises Must Converge. Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1997. Print.
------. “Faust/How I Rose.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art. 26.78 (2004): 98-127. Print.
------. Introduction to “White Water.” On New Ground: Hispanic-American Plays. Ed. M.E. Osborn. New York: Theater Communications Group, 1987. 73-142. Print.
------. “Philoktetes.” Theater Magazine (Yale) 25.3 (1994): 71-91. Print.
Johnston, David. “Securing the Performability of the Play in Translation.” Drama Translation and Theater Practice. Eds. Sabine Coelsch-Foisner and Holger Klein. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2004. 25-38. Print.
Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatic Theater. Trans. Karen Jürs-Munby. London: Routledge, 2009 [1999; trans. 2006]. Print.
Lukàcs, Georg. Faust und Faustus: Vom Drama der Menschengattung zur Tragödie der modernen Kunst. Hamburg: Rowolt, 1973. Print.
Marlowe, Christopher. Dr. Faustus. Stillwell, KS: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005. Print.
Marranca, Bonnie. “Performance as Design: The Mediaturgy of John Jesurun’s Firefall.” PAJ 96 (2010): 16-24. Print.
Moninger, Markus. “’I want to rub our noses in it’: Das medienreflexive Theaterkonzept von John Jesurun.” Crossing Media: Theater – Film – Fotografie – Neue Medien. Eds. Christopher Balme and Markus Moninger. Munich: ePODIUM, 2004. 173-188. Print.
Patsalidis, Savas. “Re-membered Pain in John Jesurun’s Philoktetes.” SavasPatsalidis,blogspot,com, 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2014.
Rajewsky, Irina O. Intermedialität. Tübingen: A. Francke, 2002. Print.
Ryan, Marie-Laure. Avatars of Story. Minneapolis: U. of Minnesota P., 2006. Print.
Schmidt, Kerstin. “Theatrical Space and Mediatized Culture: John Jesurun’s ‘Pieces in Spaces’.” Space in America: Theory, History, Culture. Eds. Klaus Benesch and Kerstin Schmidt. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. 421-449. Print.
Svich, Caridad. “A Natural Force: John Jesurun in Conversation with Caridad Svich.” Trans-Global Readings: Crossing Theatrical Boundaries. Ed. Caridad Svich. Manchester: Manchester UP., 2003. 42-46. Print.
Sophocles. Philoctetes. Ed. T. B. L. Webster. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press., 1970. Print.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. London: Faber and Faber, 1967. Print.
