Overfamiliarity: Performing alternative interspecies collaboration in performance and the therapeutic use of non-human animals

Abstract

This thesis critically examines interspecies collaborative practices across performance, science and the therapeutic use of non-human animals. The research, both through and on performance, is structured around performance encounters with three non- human species: the dog, the goat and the maggot. It aims to develop a critical account of interspecies performance encounters as well as to explore alternative creative modes of encounter and relation. Through engaging with current discourse on interspecies relationships and collaboration, I champion the potential for radical and exceptional interspecies dynamics. Themes presented throughout this body of research, to examine current interspecies practices include witchcraft and the act of having a familiar; animal mascots in the military; representations of maggots in horror films; interspecies care; and feminist theory. I draw on key theoretical reference points from Vinciane Despret and Donna Haraway to support my argument for a subjective and embodied approach to interspecies collaboration. A new body of performance work which accompanies this text proposes unconventional interspecies meetings. The potential for interspecies collaboration has been investigated through the development and devising of three new distinctive artworks: Clocking Off, a commemorative guide dog parade (2018); Goat Majorette (2019), a performance about a military goat (2019); and Mamma Maggot (2022), a work about a scientist and a colony of medical grade maggots. A combination of reflective writing and critical investigation is the methodology employed to document this practice-based-research process. It is also used to document the above artworks to demonstrate and engage with interspecies collaboration and the field of human-animal studies. This submission serves to contribute a new way of approaching interspecies relationships in performance practices through the analysis on the use of the mascot, both non-human and human, as a mode of representation for interspecies collaboration.

Date of Award	16 Aug 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Robert Kirk (Co Supervisor) & Simon Parry (Main Supervisor)