Beyond the Fourth Wall of War (Paperback)

Elise R. Morrison

ISBN 10: 0472058193 / ISBN 13: 9780472058198

Published by The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. Beyond the Fourth Wall of War sheds light on forms of embodied performance that emerge in the aftermath of structural violencewar, displacement, and militarismas individual bodies and bodies politic are shaped by communal disorders. As Elise R. Morrison argues that theater that addresses audiences directly by breaking the so-called fourth wallwhich allows spectators to see but not interact with the events onstagecan offer embodied frameworks for reckoning with war trauma that move beyond traditions of illusionism and spectatorial distance.Grounded in performance studies, this interdisciplinary study also draws deeply from digital media studies, peace studies, neuroscientific research in embodied cognition and trauma, and drama therapy. Through a comparative analysis of somatic, interactive methodologies in contemporary trauma-informed therapies, Morrison reveals the capacity of theatrical performance to model somatic witnessing and kinesthetic empathy and to cultivate communal practices of repair in response to state-sanctioned violence. Underlying this work is a broader inquiry into wars performative nature, as participatory theater uniquely reorients spectatorship toward rehearsing performative ethics in representational and militarized theaters of war. Beyond the Fourth Wall of War makes novel interventions into discourses of contemporary warfare by extending the lens of trauma beyond the battlefield to civilian publics who observe conflict from a distance, yet remain entangled in its machinery. How contemporary theater represents and responds to war trauma Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780472058198

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Beyond the Fourth Wall of War (Paperback)
• Publisher: The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472058193
• ISBN 13: 9780472058198
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Beyond the Fourth Wall of War sheds light on forms of embodied performance that emerge in the aftermath of structural violence—war, displacement, and militarism—as individual bodies and bodies politic are shaped by communal disorders. As Elise R. Morrison argues that theater that addresses audiences directly by breaking the so-called “fourth wall”—which allows spectators to see but not interact with the events onstage—can offer embodied frameworks for reckoning with war trauma that move beyond traditions of illusionism and spectatorial distance.

Grounded in performance studies, this interdisciplinary study also draws deeply from digital media studies, peace studies, neuroscientific research in embodied cognition and trauma, and drama therapy. Through a comparative analysis of somatic, interactive methodologies in contemporary trauma-informed therapies, Morrison reveals the capacity of theatrical performance to model “somatic witnessing” and kinesthetic empathy and to cultivate communal practices of repair in response to state-sanctioned violence. Underlying this work is a broader inquiry into war’s performative nature, as participatory theater uniquely reorients spectatorship toward rehearsing “performative ethics” in representational and militarized “theaters of war.” Beyond the Fourth Wall of War makes novel interventions into discourses of contemporary warfare by extending the lens of trauma beyond the battlefield to civilian publics who observe conflict from a distance, yet remain entangled in its machinery.

About the Author

Elise R. Morrison is Assistant Professor of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at Yale University. She is the author of Discipline and Desire: Surveillance Technologies in Performance.