Kaleidoscopic Care: Re-Framing Sexual Violence and Harm in Contemporary...

Format: Online and In-person (please select ticket options)

Please join us for an evening seminar and discussion with Bridget Mac Eochagain, PhD Candidate at USYD and visiting research student in the law school sharing her research in law & performance. Bridget will be in conversation with Julie Stone Peters, Global Professorial Fellow at QMUL, H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia and Affiliated Faculty Member at Columbia Law School and Maksymilian Del Mar, Professor of Legal Theory and Legal Humanities in the Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London.

Abstract:

The persistence of rape culture epitomises the carelessness that is rampant in contemporary Western society. The enduring performance of rape on stage is a resulting consequence, as practitioners attempt to grapple with its immovable power and impact on culture. In the post #MeToo era, which demanded the radical dismantlement of the oppressive structures which protect and uphold rape culture(s), the prioritisation of care has emerged as a form of social resistance. Particularly in contemporary theatre, there has been a distinct reorienting of rape narratives that mirror McGlynn and Westmarland’s alternative, pluralistic framework of kaleidoscopic justice, which as the name suggests, is a multifaceted approach to victim justice that is: “constantly refracted through new experiences or understandings [...] an ever-evolving, nuanced and live experience” (McGlynn and Westmarland 179). These frames for justice offer more avenues through which victims can seek justice beyond the punitive judicial system, particularly when this has historically had limited success for victims. Conceiving of justice as possible through a reclamation of voice, dignity, connectedness, recognition and prevention offers victims other, more tangible and care-centric approaches to justice that highlight their bodily integrity and agency as victims of violence. Showcasing these possibilities in contemporary forms of performance not only demonstrate their potentiality but encourage a social reconfiguration for how we seek justice in the wake of personal, bodily violences. This will be considered through an examination of Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie, which frames justice for Tessa, the play’s protagonist and victim of assault, through voice, dignity and prevention. By prioritising victim-centred justice alongside a pursuit to confront the social and cultural harm of rape culture, contemporary plays and performances of rape can provide a practical blueprint for how spectators can render radical care for victim/survivors in and outside of the theatre.

Speaker(s): Briget Mac Eochagain, USYD Julie Stone Peters, QMUL/Columbia (online) Maks Del Mar QMUL (Kate Leader: chair) QMUL

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