The Duran | Courtesy
One of the best ways to learn about theater is to read a philosopher, said Professor of Theater James Brandon in a lecture on Feb. 3.
Brandon spoke on the impact of Aristotle’s writing on the development of the theatrical arts. Playwrights still adhere to the rules he described in “Poetics,” written around 330 B.C., he said.
Brandon recalled his time studying theater as an undergraduate student at Eureka College in Illinois.
“I asked my adviser what book I should read, or reread, and he handed me a battered, dog-eared copy of Aristotle’s ‘Poetics,’” Brandon said. “I discovered that much of what I had been learning and reading over the last few years came straight from Aristotle’s ‘Poetics.’”
One of Aristotle’s major theatrical concepts that separated his work from others’ in his time is the notion of mimesis, or an imitation of the real world in art, as a form of entertainment, according to Brandon.
There is a reason humanity enjoys the performative arts, such as theater, television, and movies: humans “enjoy watching other people do it,” he said.
Brandon’s interpretation of Aristotle is that imitation is natural to man from childhood, that humans are the most imitative creatures in the world.
Sophomore Holly Stover said her childhood love of plays and musicals drew her to Brandon’s talk.
“It makes sense that we like watching plays,” Stover said. “People are nosy and we like watching other people’s lives.”
This lecture was the third in a series of public lectures presented this year by the Van Andel School of Statesmanship in conjunction with its Doctoral Humanities Seminar, an interdisciplinary course for Ph.D. students consisting of lectures and seminars on central themes in the humanities.
Assistant Professor of French Anna Navrotskaya said she saw Brandon’s lecture as a fitting occasion to get more ideas for her writing on performance practices in contemporary theater and everyday life.
“I really appreciated the logical way Dr. Brandon presented the concept of mimesis and related it directly to performance, considering the fact that not only do we imitate but that we also enjoy seeing imitation,” Navrotskaya said.
The inner workings of theatrical production are still rooted in the elements of tragedy prescribed by Aristotle: plot, character, theme, language, music, and spectacle all play together to create an art form designed “to teach, to move, and to make us feel,” Dr. Brandon said.
“A clear understanding of the ‘Poetics’ helped me understand how various elements in theater developed over the years and fit together,” Brandon said.
By Beth Crawford
Collegian Freelancer
The Biden Administration’s decision to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics demonstrates that America’s governing elites are “the biggest bunch of fools and knaves ever brought together in history,” Associate Professor of Politics John Grant said in a Feb. 3 lecture.
The Alexander Hamilton Society hosted a discussion between Grant and Professor of History Paul Rahe entitled, “Diplomatic Boycott: The China Olympics.”
Rahe opened his talk with a historical analysis of the games. The first Olympics in 706 B.C. focused on foot races. A few centuries later, Grecians favored chariot racing as a means of attaining political honor and glory.
“These things have always had a political bent of the kind we’re seeing today,” Rahe said.
Refusing to send diplomats to this year’s games in Beijing means refusing to send first lady Jill Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, Grant said. As a result, America’s attempt to send a message to the Chinese concerning their treatment of the Uyghurs comes across as mere posturing, in part due to the complete economic interdependence between America and China.
The American elites in both parties are intimately connected to China: the Bidens have extensive business connections, and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is married to the daughter of a Chinese shipping magnate, Grant said.
“All of our meaningful or most important problems with China are of our making,” Grant said.
The boycott comes further into question when examining the blind eye that the United States has turned toward other countries with major human rights violations, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Grant said.
Regardless of the status of the Uyghurs and China’s human rights violations, both Rahe and Grant agreed America’s interests should come first.
“We have to disentangle economically,” Grant said.
Eighty percent of America’s pharmaceuticals are made in China, Grant said, and China has a monopoly on fertilizer, which is causing a 200% increase in its price.
Rahe affirmed Grant’s assessment of the current situation, and suggested this posturing is a result of the quick turnover in American government.
“Many of the things that John Grant pointed to seem to me to derive from the fact that the current administration’s only concern is the next election,” Rahe said.
The four-year election cycle, which naturally leads to foreign policy changes with incoming administrations, hinders America from playing the same long term game that other countries, such as China play, Rahe said.
This is most notable in view of the recent events surrounding China’s aggression toward the island of Taiwan. Taiwan is the leading producer of semiconductor microchips, making the tiny island in the South China sea an important player on the geo-political scale. Freshman Joseph Claeys enjoyed the points on Taiwan.
“I think the point about Taiwan and semiconductors was really interesting,” Claeys said. “It’s another reason like we should defend the island, or at least try since it’s kind of almost out of reach.”
While intervention in the case of Taiwan relates much more to American interest, Grant and Rahe said intervening in China’s affairs with the Uyghurs does not apply in the same way to American interests or sovereignty.
“I’d say it’s not our business because our American rights and independence are not at stake,” Grant said.
Without a direct challenge to American rights and sovereignty, intervention is hard to justify, making the boycott of the Olympics another example of political theater, Grant said.
