Definitions HQ

A Performative (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠certifies a death is a way of reassuring oneself, speaking in the name of life.

The Performative (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an interpretation that transforms the very thing it interprets.

Performative (n.) neutralizes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the very event it claims to produce, by granting itself calculable mastery over it.

A Performative (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a kind of speech that generates its condition (rather than the conditions already existing as in austin).

The Performative (n.) communicates ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a force, not a meaning: it does not describe an event, it operates on one.

A Performative (n.) succeeds ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only by repeating a coded, iterable formula — every 'I open this meeting' is a citation, and intention can no longer govern the whole scene.

Performative (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠never be purely just: it rests on earlier conventions, buried or not, and so always carries some irruptive violence.

A Performative (n.) to ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the extent it is conventional must be repeated to work — bound to no context in particular, though always found in some context or another.