브로드웨이 ≪에쿠우스≫와 포르노그래피 -경계와 접점, 그리고 유통-
Broadway Equus and Pornography -Boundaries, Intersections, and Circulation-
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One of the many definitions attributed to the original Broadway production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus(1974～77) is “Nude Theatre.” In the wake of 1960s’ vogue in the exposure of flesh on the avant-garde stage and amidst the so-called “Porno Plague” of the 70s’ sexual revolution, the nude scenes in the play promoted both a huge box office income and a hot debate over its sensationalism. The popular and the critical responses to the sexual overtones of the play as a whole and the exploitative-ness of the nude sex scene in Act 2 in particular seemed to vary, largely according to the spectatorial subject’s aesthetic and/or moral dispositions. Exploring in the sexual-cultural landscape of the mid-1970s’ America, this paper investigates several sites and events on which Equus as art and pornographic works as non-art stand distinct from, and adjacent to, each other. Such boundaries and intersections between the ‘smash-hit’ theatrical production and ‘popular’ pornographies include varied cultural sites: the Times Square as a locus operandi of entertainment industry; The New York Times as its moderator and promoter; the whole genre of theatre reviews both as criticism and publicity; the auditorium of the Plymouth Theatre where audiences of disparate moralities and tastes co-existed in front of the problematic nude scene of Equus; the concept of the ‘obscene’ in relation to the ‘artistic’ as defined and re-defined in the legal, social, and cultural contexts; finally, the so-called “art porn” exemplified by the ‘infamous’ Deep Throat of 1972. Tracing these instances of cultural process produces a narrative in which emerges an ‘average American citizen’ of the mid-70s, who traverses traditional boundaries between art and pornography, newly marking them as intersections. In his experience, however, what seemed boundaries or intersections finally collapses into the one and the same system, or structure, of infinite circulation of commodities, cultural icons, and discourses. Nonetheless, he remains reluctant to admit that Equus “is” pornography.
Abstract
One of the many definitions attributed to the original Broadway production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus(1974～77) is “Nude Theatre.” In the wake of 1960s’ vogue in the exposure of flesh on the avant-garde stage and amidst the so-called “Porno Plague” of the 70s’ sexual revolution, the nude scenes in the play promoted both a huge box office income and a hot debate over its sensationalism. The popular and the critical responses to the sexual overtones of the play as a whole and the exploitative-ness of the nude sex scene in Act 2 in particular seemed to vary, largely according to the spectatorial subject’s aesthetic and/or moral dispositions. Exploring in the sexual-cultural landscape of the mid-1970s’ America, this paper investigates several sites and events on which Equus as art and pornographic works as non-art stand distinct from, and adjacent to, each other. Such boundaries and intersections between the ‘smash-hit’ theatrical production and ‘popular’ pornographies include varied cultural sites: the Times Square as a locus operandi of entertainment industry; The New York Times as its moderator and promoter; the whole genre of theatre reviews both as criticism and publicity; the auditorium of the Plymouth Theatre where audiences of disparate moralities and tastes co-existed in front of the problematic nude scene of Equus; the concept of the ‘obscene’ in relation to the ‘artistic’ as defined and re-defined in the legal, social, and cultural contexts; finally, the so-called “art porn” exemplified by the ‘infamous’ Deep Throat of 1972. Tracing these instances of cultural process produces a narrative in which emerges an ‘average American citizen’ of the mid-70s, who traverses traditional boundaries between art and pornography, newly marking them as intersections. In his experience, however, what seemed boundaries or intersections finally collapses into the one and the same system, or structure, of infinite circulation of commodities, cultural icons, and discourses. Nonetheless, he remains reluctant to admit that Equus “is” pornography.
참고문헌 (15)
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