Dramatic Theories of Voice in the Twentieth Century By Andrew Ki ...

But phenomenology's renewed interest in the voice at the start of the twentieth century coincided with the vocal experiments of the Futurists, and the linguistic turn, media theory, and studies in the evolution of language followed. Therefore, the first decade of the twentieth century presents us with a convenient point of departure, and the discourses as a whole pose one overriding question pertinent to the theatre today: In light of recent studies of language, what can be said of the voice with assurance? The contribution of this study lies in its response.

Theory constitutes the subject of the book, but the theories discussed cannot be understood adequately without the historical context of their production. Therefore, this book, while primarily and intentionally expository, also places the vocal theories and practices within a historical context. Methodologically, with each chapter I focus on a specific discipline, field of inquiry, or style of theatre practice. I briefly situate the philosophers, theorists, movements, or practices within governing social, economic, political, or academic trends and note the specific issues the theorists or practitioners confronted. I then interpret the theories of voice and vocal practices from within the milieu that the historical context provides. That said, let me clarify that this book is not a history of the voice in the twentieth century. Space does not permit an examination of the many causal factors that may have conditioned a hearing of the voice—the numerous modes of communication technology or the public discourses of psychology, gender, class, and age, for example. Nor does it permit a critique of the innumerable traces of the voice available in analog and digital recording from such varied sources as phonograph records, radio, television, sound-synchronized film, cassette tapes, reel-to-reel, computer files, and home video. Publications in media studies have already addressed several aspects of the mediated voice as heard or performed in the twentieth century, but none that I know of have critiqued the voice as expressed in philosophic or scientific theory and then related those to theatre practice.

Although I do not intend this book as a history of the voice, I follow Tobin Nellhaus's critique of historiographical method and adopt a critical realist position in relation to the source material.¹ In aligning myself