The History of a Mark:
Marking, Re-marking and Unmarking
Who is marked? Who marks?
The OED traces the word "mark" as originating with landownership and territory between free, white, European males. The term means "a boundary, frontier or limit" ("mark, n.1". OED Online).
The word also means "an indicator, symptom or omen; a quality, occurrence, etc., indicative of something" (Ibid).
As I journey through the research process, I hope to explain how the castrati is marked or clearly set outside of any boundaries because of his castrated state.
When I think of marked bodies I think of many people, including myself; we can be marked socially by our gender, ethnicity, class, etc,. or we can be marked by specific physical traits such as birthmarks, eye color, variation in skin pigmentation, scarring, disability etc.
The OED traces the word "mark" as originating with landownership and territory between free, white, European males. The term means "a boundary, frontier or limit" ("mark, n.1". OED Online).
The word also means "an indicator, symptom or omen; a quality, occurrence, etc., indicative of something" (Ibid).
As I journey through the research process, I hope to explain how the castrati is marked or clearly set outside of any boundaries because of his castrated state.
When I think of marked bodies I think of many people, including myself; we can be marked socially by our gender, ethnicity, class, etc,. or we can be marked by specific physical traits such as birthmarks, eye color, variation in skin pigmentation, scarring, disability etc.
Who re-marks?
I imagine re-marking to be a placing of one's mark onto another body by some means of transposing.
How could the castrati have altered the boundaries of the fourth wall in the performance space and affected or "entered" the spectator in a new way?
By showing or forcing a spectator to see how they themselves are not marked, what does it do to that spectator?
Is re-marking purely hidden, or can it ever be visible or performed?
Who unmarks?
I imagine "unmarking" to be a complete elimination of the thing that marks a person. Is this actually possible when a physical trait or indication of differentness is always present? Can we ever move beyond markers if they so openly define a person, as they did for the singing castrati?
If we accept the castrati as just being a male performer on the stage, can we ever forget about his castration once he opens his mouth and sings?
Marking, re-marking and unmarking describe a relationship between someone who is evaluated and someone who evaluates. The question is, how fluid are these roles, and who holds the real power?