Cabaret as a Social and Media Practice. Austrian Stage Performances 1955–2000

Cabaret as a Social and Media Practice. Austrian Stage Performances 1955–2000 Wider research context / theoretical framework Adopting a historical-praxeological approach, the project combines literary, theatre and cultural studies with archival research and research into cabaret, stand-up comedy and popular culture. While German-language studies are predominantly historiographical, theory-based and analytical works on the media and society are lacking. While international research is limited, stand-up comedy research and analyses of feminist comedy offer important opportunities for further exploration. The project aims to develop a praxeological, empirically based perspective on practices, media contexts, and representations. Hypotheses / research questions / objectives This project will offer the first historical-praxeological overview of Austrian cabaret between 1955 and 2000. It will systematically analyse practices, media and discourses, as well as underrepresented groups, while providing a methodological framework. The guiding hypothesis is that cabaret can be better explained through routine social and media practices than through theories of comedy. Specifically, changes in media infrastructure (e.g. radio, television and private television) shape performance and re-ception, and parallel spaces of possibility emerge through the interaction of media, discourse and mar-ginalised actors. Archival materiality enables the reconstruction of performative routines in a manner that adequately captures the phenomenon. Approach / methods Historical praxeology examines routine social practices. In the context of cabaret, these practices en-compass people, bodies, artefacts, spaces, language and media. These are repeatable, situated actions that incorporate knowledge and have a performative effect. The project focuses on material conditions (e.g. the stage, props and technology), physical routines (e.g. singing, pauses and microphone use) and discursive formations (e.g. stage characters, audience address and political references), as well as media transmissions. Historical sources are used, and materiality is emphasised because performance can only be transmitted through media. Secured archive holdings now enable a praxeological perspective ade-quate to the phenomenon, whereby materials are interpreted as evidence of practical routines. Level of originality / innovation This project fills a gap in the research of cabaret theory and practice by shifting the focus from questions of comedy to practices, and by understanding cabaret as an area between innovation and convention. The period from 1955 to 2000 is pivotal: with the beginning of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's (ORF) television presence, studio appearances and media interactions and the end of the post-war occupation in 1955, as well as the end of the television monopoly and the political change in 2000, all shaping the field of investigation. This project breaks new ground at every level. It is the first to systematically analyse Austrian cabaret of the post-war period from a theoretical perspective, the first to apply historical praxeo-logical theory and methodology to such a degree within a theatre-sociological framework, and the first to open up largely unknown archive holdings. Primary researchers involved Dr Mario Huber.