Towards a cultural history of performance, politics and play

The themed section included in this issue of Ludica represents a selection of papers presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Cultural History, held in New York in September 2018. The theme of ‘Performance, Politics and Play’ was chosen in response to the ‘performative turn’ in the humanities. One of the highlights of the event was a round table held at New York University to initiate a methodological dialogue between theorists and practitioners of performance studies and of cultural history. The current selection of contributions aims to address the heuristic potential of such interaction between scholarly approaches. Case studies range chronologically from Antiquity to the present, vary significantly in their geography and examine diverse forms of social practice. A stimulating theoretical contribution by Christian Biet opens the section, offering readers a perspective on the history and social power of theatrical experience that highlights the interactive role played by the audience and the political potential of performance.