This article discusses Jeffrey Alexander’s work on social performances. All societies, says Alexander, need a measure of integration—they need to be “fused”—for a common, properly social, life to be possible. In simple societies, this is achieved by means of rituals; in complex societies, it is achieved by means of the theater. In both cases, performances are understood in analogy with “texts” which are “read.” Although explicit interpretations indeed are crucial for our understanding of a performance, audience members make sense of what they see in more direct, more embodied, ways as well. Cognitive neuroscience can help us understand how performances affect us and thereby how societies are fused.

中文翻译：

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表演如何融合社会？

本文讨论了杰弗里·亚历山大 (Jeffrey Alexander) 在社交表演方面的工作。亚历山大说，所有社会都需要一定程度的整合——它们需要“融合”——才能使共同的、适当的社会生活成为可能。在简单的社会中，这是通过仪式来实现的；在复杂的社会中，它是通过戏剧来实现的。在这两种情况下，表演都被理解为类似于“阅读”的“文本”。虽然明确的解释确实对我们理解表演至关重要，但观众也能以更直接、更具体的方式理解他们所看到的。认知神经科学可以帮助我们了解表演如何影响我们，从而了解社会是如何融合的。