This work investigates the historical trajectory and eventual dissolution of the avant-garde movement within the context of twentieth-century cultural shifts. Richard Schechner, a prominent theorist in performance studies and cultural criticism, examines how the radical impulses of early modernism were gradually absorbed, commodified, or neutralized by institutional structures. The text argues that the avant-garde's reliance on shock and subversion became unsustainable as the cultural landscape evolved toward postmodern fragmentation.

Scholars and critics frequently cite this text as a rigorous examination of the institutionalization of radical art forms. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which assumes a foundational knowledge of performance theory and modern art history.