Theatrical Speech Acts explores the significance and impact of words in performance, probing how language functions in theatrical scenarios, what it can achieve under particular conditions, and what kinds of problems may arise as a result.

Erika Fischer-Lichte is Director of the International Research Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures" at Freie Universität Berlin.

Torsten Jost is Researcher at the International Research Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures" at Freie Universität Berlin.

Saskya Iris Jain is a writer, translator and editor, educated at Freie Universität Berlin and at Columbia University, New York.

List of Figures Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Reflections on the Politics and Philosophy of Language in Performance 1. The Politics of Translation: Notes towards an African Language Policy 2. English is an African Language - Ka Dupe! For and against Ngugi 3. Doing Things with Words: Indonesian Paralanguage and Performance 4. Speech Politics: Performing Political Scripts 5. Cultural Interweaving and Translation: Three Iconic Moments in Indian Theater, 1859-1979 6. The Translational Politics of Surtitling: Lola Arias's Campo minado/Minefield 7. Staging an Alternative Theatrical Modernity: From Modern Literary Drama to Theatrical Speech Acts in Malayalam 8. The Task of Theatrical Translation: Second-hand Speech Acts in Contemporary Performances 9. Transmitting Voice Pedagogy: Interweaving Korean P'ansori and Contemporary Modes of Anglo-American Voice Training 10. The Female Voice in Egyptian Theater: Between Traditions of Muting and the New Waves of Revolution 11. Words that Dance / Words that Fight: Locating Speech Acts in Hip-Hop Theater Epilogue: Restoration as Re-creation: The Performative Role of the Word in the Context of Thai Culture Index