In Unmaking Mimesis, Elin Diamond interrogates the concept of mimesis in relation to feminism, theatre and performance. Diamond combines psychoanalytic, semiotic and materialist strategies with readings of selected plays by diverse writers such as Ibsen, Brecht, Aphra Behn, Caryl Churchill and Peggy Shaw. Through provocative readings of theatre, theory and feminist performance, Diamond demonstrates the continuing force of feminism and mimesis in critical thinking today.

Table of Contents: Part One:Unmaking Mimesis: 1 Introduction; 2 Realism: Hysteria: Disruption in the Theater of Knowledge: i) Doleful Referents ii) Fallen Women: Medical Melodrama iii)Translation and the Hypnoid State iv) Realism's Hysteria v)Hysteria's Realism Part Two Gestic Feminist Criticism: 3 Brechtian Theory/Feminist Theory; 4 Gestus, Signature, Body in the Theater of Aphra Behn: i) The Apparatus ii) The Wife Thing iii) Disguise and Desire iv) Passionate Address/Gestric Undress v) Allegories of Authority; 5 Churchill's Plays: The Gestus of Invisibility 6 Mimesis and Identification: Kennedy's Theater: i) Funnyhouse of a Negro, The Owl Answers ii) Movie Star iii) Alexander Plays iv) People Who Led to My Plays 7 Performance and Temporality: Feminist Performance Art