Resumen de Pleyinge and Peyntynge: Performing the Dance of Death
The writer explores the performative traits of the medieval Dance of Death (danse macabre) paintings by using the viewer-response theory that hinges on semiotics. Aiming to determine the conventions that make the meaning(s) of the danse macabre possible, she bases her interpretive criticism of particular images and their accompanying texts on the existence of the viewer as a key component of any analysis. Analyzing Dance of Death paintings as sites of interaction between text, image, and beholder, she considers the way the danse macabre exerts power over its viewer, structures their experience, and is then structured by that experience itself. Finally, she discusses the purpose and implication of converting a dynamic theatrical performance into a static painting, underscoring the need to investigate visual cues within Dance of Death paintings as tools for understanding the cycle's ultimate reception within the framework of its performativity.
