Do This - by Richard D McCall (Paperback)

About the Book

Do This uses contemporary performance theory to present a systematic approach the liturgy as event rather than text.

Book Synopsis

Dramatic elements have always been apparent in the historic Christian liturgy. Because the liturgy is a structured action and not merely a verbal narrative, it has historically been both illuminated by and confused with other types of performance, such as theatre and drama. This confusion has been compounded by the fact that much analysis of liturgy has focused on the linguistic and theological aspects of the event and not on its elements of performance.

In Do This: Liturgy as Performance, Richard D. McCall presents a systematic approach to the liturgy as event rather than text, using tools made available by contemporary performance theory. McCall follows the rise of dramatic interpretation of the early Christian liturgy from its beginnings through such elements as costumes, interpretative text, and gesture. He then examines the development of performance theory, focusing on the work of Victor Turner and Richard Schechner, and asks if it can be applied to the liturgy. Three views of liturgical theology, especially that of Aiden Kavanagh's, which holds that the liturgy as enacted is liturgy properly presented, set the stage for McCall to construct a definition of liturgy as a mode of performance. In chapter 4, McCall brings Aristotle's categories in the Poetics to bear on liturgical action. In the final chapter he analyzes an actual liturgical enactment: the celebration of the Mass at Rome in the early eighth century according to the Gregorian Sacramentary and the actions described in Ordo Romanus I.

Do This: Liturgy as Performance bridges the work of performance scholarship and liturgical studies in a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary way. The book will interest seminarians and liturgical scholars in a variety of fields, including theology and the arts, early Christian liturgy, Church history, and liturgical theology.

Review Quotes

"In this splendid contribution to liturgical theology, Richard McCall provides an excellent analysis of liturgical memorial through the lens of performance theory. In the course of the book McCall constructs a profound account of the liturgy as Trinitarian theology." --John F. Baldovin, S.J., Weston Jesuit School of Theology

"Richard McCall takes what is perhaps the most obvious yet most neglected element in the liturgy, its dramatic character, and gives it superb theoretical substance. Liturgical studies can have many starting points but the most neglected of all is Jesus' command: Do this in memory of me. While the 'this' can be codified into rubrics, the essence of the command, i.e., the 'do' in 'Do this' is that it must be performed. Dr. McCall deftly and brilliantly explores the nature of such performance and its implications for liturgical studies. In this, he has advanced the field significantly." --Alejandro Garcia-Rivera, Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley

" . . . this is a valuable contribution to the corpus of liturgical studies." --Church Times

"Do This . . . is a valuable contribution to the conversation about worship that is ongoing between practitioners and scholars. Professors who teach advanced courses in liturgical studies will find their reading lists enriched by McCall's foray into the drama that is liturgical enactment." --Anglican Theological Review

"Far from being an apologia pro ostentatione liturgica, this is a serious attempt to explore performance as "a many-faceted model for approaching all of that reality which can only be, for human beings, symbolic and enacted in our institutions, relationships, art, and rituals" (3). It is the most important book I have read in liturgical studies in the last five years." --Worship

"In this excellent book, Richard McCall addresses the question of what it means to speak of the liturgy as drama. This claim is often made, but generally without adequate attention to what this claim actually means. In Do This, McCall undertakes this task and offers to his readers a thorough analysis of the multi-faceted issues that the question raises. McCall brings to this task not only his knowledge of liturgical history and theology, but also his extensive professional experience in theatre. The central act of the Christian Eucharist is placed within the context of the wide range of human performative acts, with a careful analysis of both similarities and differences. McCall's book offers enormous insight into this aspect of the Eucharistic rite." --Louis Weil, Hodges-Haynes Professor of Liturgics, Church Divinity School of the Pacific

"McCall has done all those who toil in that field a great service by showing that a non text-based methodology can be brought to bear on liturgy as an event. He deliberately tries to avoid any reliance on text to understand liturgy as performed, although he appeals to it here and there. Many have tried to develop a methodology, for the liturgical event, but McCall has largely succeeded." --Theoforum

"McCall highlights the dramatic character of liturgy in this book, giving it theoretical substance. 'Liturgy as performance' is not intended here in the informal sense panned by ecclesiastical authorities as a widespread popular misinterpretation of liturgical 'active participation.' Rather, McCall is concerned with theory, much of it philosophical-from Aristotle to Bakhtin." --Choice

"Richard McCall's Do This is an insightful work of scholarship that brings the tools of performance studies to bear on the doing of liturgical action. McCall moves freely between nascent church dramas, Aristotle's Poetics, liturgical theology, and historical reconstructions of medieval liturgy. Paralleling recent work in performance and cultural studies, McCall understands that liturgy is first and foremost a performed event in a particular context--not a text or theology." --Troy Messenger, Union Theological Seminary

About the Author

Richard D. McCall was associate professor of liturgy and church music at the Episcopal Divinity School. He is currently retired.