performativity
n.— «Recently, a Harvard teaching fellow, Jen Hui Bon Hoa, sent an e-mail to her students in English 193: Introduction to 20th-Century Literary Theory, informing them that the next day’s lesson would be a “performativity show and tell.” Discussion would center around a set of texts on gender theory, and Ms. Hui Bon Hoa wanted everyone to dress for the occasion. She wanted them to come in drag.» —“What’s Happening At Harvard? Try ‘Performativity’” by Leon Neyfakh in Cambridge, Massachusetts New York Sun (New York City) May 22, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Sigrin writes from Albany, New York, that she misheard our earlier conversation about the expression shaving yak hair meaning “performing a monotonous, tedious task.” At first she thought we said shaving gnat hair, which she figures is...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...