student asking question

What's "the performative" mean? Is this a noun?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Here, "the performative" is a noun! It alludes to all performative things, an artistic act of some kind. "Performative" is commonly used as an adjective, but within the artistic and dramatic field, it's an art term. Ex: The performative nature of the artwork made it feel like a scene from a movie. => adjective Ex: I have a fascination with the performative and how it links to real life.

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