Performance is a forum for social action, embodied interaction and shared authority. Recently, as the various acts and agencies surrounding a performance have become the target of scholarly interest, the complex split between theory and practice has been challenged, as has the idea of a singular, disembodied authorial ownership of the socio-material meanings surrounding performance. The Embodiment of Authority approaches performance, issues of authority and negotiated knowledge production through multi-material research data and interdisciplinary methods. The book discusses the relationship between authorial questions and performances via the following topics: shared authorities, ontologies of art work, diverse roles of rehearsals in the performance process, and embodied knowledge.

Taina Riikonen, PhD, is a sound explorer who works at the intersection of sound arts and research. Her interests include tactile recording, body sounds, machine noises and the issues surrounding performance, performativity, bodies and site-specific arts. Marjaana Virtanen, PhD, is a researcher at the University of Turku’s Department of Musicology, in Finland. Her research interests include performance studies, performance-oriented music analysis, musical gestures and contemporary Finnish art music.