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The Role of Performance in Gandhian Nonviolence

Inspired by the principles of Gandhian nonviolence, as well as by the effectiveness of nonviolence as a tool for social change in general, I have recently explored and identified what is perhaps the most prominent rhetorical device at work in Gandhi’s nonviolent advocacy. The rhetorical significance of public performance allowed the Indian nationalist movement to efficiently communicate the group’s message and significantly advanced the capacity for social and political change throughout India and around the world.

In exploring the dynamics of the self-sacrifice and voluntary suffering that members of the movement succumbed to, it became obvious that dramatized performance of suffering was responsible for the success of their nonviolent action. The visual presentation of British violence against civilly disobedient Indians created a kind of public performance that drew attention to the movement altered the discourse surrounding the Indian nationalist movement. The effectiveness of such performance depended on the psychological response of the attacker and the coercive power of a judgmental audience.

Playing the role of the brutal attacker in such “public performances,” British authorities may have experienced unexpected psychological responses to their violent actions. They may have experience self-disgust as they attempted to brutally beat defenseless protesters who refused to fight back. In this way, nonviolence was a form of persuasive communication on the behalf of Gandhi and his followers in that it challenged the values of the British.

More effective than this psychological response to such “performances” of suffering was the presence of an audience to these performances. As pointed out by Richard Gregg in The Power of Nonviolence, the audience functions as “a sort of mirror,” reflecting back to the attacker his immoral and horrible actions. As violent British opponents beat members of the Indian nationalist movement, the pressure of a judgmental audience forced them to become more aware and ashamed of their actions, and made them question their brutal methods of suppressive violence. The media played a large role in augmenting the size and influence of the movement’s audience. Attention was held around the world as people read about Indians voluntarily succumbing to the brutal assaults of British authorities. Thus, media circulation helped to gather third party support for the movement around the globe, in addition to threatening the British government with bad publicity.

The persuasive power of both the audience and the attacker’s morals in public performances of suffering were crucial to the success of the nonviolent movement as it placed pressure on the British government to make changes to the challenged colonial system. Thus, at the heart of the movement we see a convergence of both radicalism and performance.

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