Performative Writing

Performative writing is a methodology of communication research in which the form of the writing enacts the very academic argument the author seeks to propose—that is, the how of the research mirrors the what; the form communicates the thesis of the writing. This entry will discuss the central elements of performative writing and detail how this innovative writing form serves communication theory development and enables authors to show the utility of communication theory in practice.

Performative writing has a complex history, stemming from literature, creative writing, and performance studies. Often conflated with movements in autobiographical performance, autoethnography, and personal narrative, performative writing shares commonalities with a broad range of methods and perspectives; it is distinct, however, in regard to its focus on craft. Within each of the other methods noted above, the central goal is on the content and form of evidence the methods bring to bear (i.e., the use of the personal as a basis for argumentation).

Although performative writing makes use of the personal, it is more concerned with the actual form of writing, seeking to craft an argument that embodies the very content of the project. In other words, regardless of the topic, performative writing is writing that evokes the content, that puts into action the content to both explain and to enact that which the author writes. In this way, the writing does, as John Austin's speech act theory might also suggest, the very thing that is being articulated. The writing acts and accomplishes the content of the speech, embodying the argument. There are several characteristics of performative writing that capture this method of writing:

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• Crafted. Performative writing pays special attention to craft. Although all writing forms are stylized, performative writing considers the application of language to be of central concern. As a form that seeks to put ideas into motion, to engage the reader on intellectual, emotional, and bodily levels, writers ensure that all uses of language are careful, that all details are aimed toward keeping the tension between the word and the audience active. For instance, if the essay seeks to understand apprehension, the writing will be apprehensive, will seek to garner that emotional sense in the body of the reader.
• Constitutive. Performative writing seeks to evoke, to bring to mind, and to produce (not just report) knowledge within the reader. For instance, an essay on dialogue might literalize as a dialogue to show the complexity, value, and constitutive nature of such communicative engagements. Common communicative topics such as conflict, diversity, pedagogy, and/or performance may very well be enhanced by writing through the issue, creating a form on the page that evokes and produces new ways of knowing that can be gained only by undergoing the reading and interaction with the text.
• Empathic. As a style of writing, the work seeks to be empathic—that is, the writing seeks to connect with and draw on the emotions of the audience. As opposed to distant research that recreates divisions between knower and known, between speaker and those the speaker speaks to, performative writing relies on creating empathy as an emotional connection that draws the reader into the argument. In this way, the writing becomes dialogic as the audience draws connections between themselves and the text.
• Citational. Performative writing is citational; embedded in the text are allusions and carefully crafted entry points into other texts, worlds, and ways of knowing. Such writing is composed through the function of citation—uses of repetition, reiteration, and reenactment each contribute to make the moment on the page larger than the specific contexts of the moment. By drawing on repeatable tropes, the writing serves as metaphor and metonymy for systems and larger structural forces. For instance, if a writer seeks to critically engage with systems of racism and imperialism, she or he may write a personal account of such experiences in an effort to cite or demonstrate the commonalities between their experiences and larger systems of power and domination. In this way, the writing cites those systems through the performatives embedded in her or his own life stories.
• Playful. Performative writing is playful not only in style, but also in subject. This is to say, the writing not only uses playful tropes, but seeks to playfully disrupt common ideas, language, and modes of thinking. For instance, if an author sought to disrupt commonly held beliefs about teaching in the basic communication course, he or she might play with the word basic, drawing out the implications of language and how that language constitutes what that course means in a department's curriculum, in a teacher's understanding of his or her own teaching, and of how students come to see their obligations in that course. By playfully engaging in such word play through a variety of contexts, an author could draw sharp attention to how language produces understandings in powerful, yet mundane, ways.

Communication theory uses performative writing in both large- and small-scale ways. Some authors use this specialized form of writing to evoke an image in an introduction or to draw to a close some theoretical argument; others craft whole books through this form of writing. In each, the use of performative writing puts theory into practice, places ideas in motion, and produces knowledge. The benefit to communication theory will only grow as more and more authors embrace this interactional and energetic form of writing communication scholarship.

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