ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the use of what Thomas Beaudoin calls a “Foucaultian imperative” in art and seeks to demonstrate that Jerzy Grotowski’s work could be seen to explore a new means of religious understanding and knowing, as embodied theological experience. In an exploration of the possibility of plural domains of theological knowledge, Beaudoin takes Foucault’s thought forward by exploring the relationship between artistic work and religious experience, specifically in music. One key aspect of Grotowski’s paratheatre work allows for the internalization of authority; in this case, the source for spiritual experience, and therefore for spiritual authority, occurs through a uniquely personal and visceral experience. The concept of using a Foucaultian imperative to assess the plurality of domains for theological knowledge as suggested by Thomas Beaudoin is valuable because it enables to extend the parameters for theological experience within the body.
