TEXT IN THE AESTHETICS OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN PERFORMANCE ART

Abstract

This article examines the linguistic and aesthetic features of the text in the structure of American and European performance, which is known as an interdisciplinary phenomenon. In the context of this study, the concept of text goes beyond the traditional linguistic framework and reflects the idea of the text as a cultural and semiotic unit. Philological analysis of the text in performance remains insufficiently explored and forms a research gap in linguistic studies. This fact determines the relevance of this study. There is a need to reconsider the category of text and methods of its analysis in the intermedial conditions. The purpose of the study is to analyse the text embedded in modern performance, as well as to identify special linguistic and aesthetic characteristics.

The theoretical framework is based on the works of semiotics, linguo-aesthetics, and media theory, mainly on the research works of Yu. M. Lotman, M. M. Bakhtin, Yu. Kristeva, and M. McLuhan. The research material includes performances by American and European artists, predominantly with a textual (verbal and visual) component. The art works were analysed in order to determine the role of the text from two positions: the text as a semiotic and aesthetic element in the structure of performance. The analysis employs basic theoretical and empirical methods, the method of deconstruction, as well as semiotic and linguo-aesthetic approaches. 

The results of the study are shown as a typology, identifying four main types of texts in performance: directive, explanatory, visual-textual, communicative, as well as their subtypes. It is established that the text in performance art performs a structure-forming and semantic function. It can act as an instruction, commentary, visual sign, and form interaction between the artist, performer, and viewer.

It is concluded that the text in performance functions as a multilevel semiotic system that contributes to the formation of meaning through interaction with other media. The role of the viewers is also emphasized because they participate in the interpretation of meaning. The research contributes to the development of modern philology by offering a new understanding of textuality as a dynamic, procedural, and medially conditioned phenomenon. The work integrates the ideas of media theory, intertextuality, and dialogism, expanding the boundaries of text analysis in the humanities. The results may be useful for further philological study in the field of linguo-aesthetics of contemporary art, and for analysis of text in the multimedial context.