Page 122 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 122
Ideology in the 20th Century: studies of literary and social discourses and practices
(as Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič argue; see Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič
2013, 98).
The term ‘postdramatic theatre’ has been coined and examined in de-
tail by German theatrologist Hans-Thies Lehmann. In his Postdrama-
tisches Theater (1999) he examined a series of practices, based on the neo-
avant-garde tradition from the 1960s. In postdramatic theatre, the text is
no longer in the centre of the performance but is only one of its elements.
This novel theatre is characterized by the use of heterogeneous styles; its
elements, like illusion, space, time, body and text are dismantled and then
combined in a new way.
Lehmann’s theory derives from the crisis of drama theatre, namely
the theatre dominated by the text. Lehmann has detected the shift from
the text-based theatre and culture to the new media age. Today, theatre
122 is no longer able to compete successfully with new media like television,
computers, virtual reality etc; however, new media seem to be much faster
and practical. In comparison with them—argues Lehmann in 1999—the
advantage and particularity of theatre lie in the fact that in theatre a per-
formance is performed as live, enabling the audience to be its active ob-
servers. Therefore one of the significant features of postdramatic theatre
is active participation of the audience which results in abolishing the tra-
ditional demarcation between the performers and the audience.
Similar heterogeneity and de-centralization can be observed in drama
as well. Gerda Poschmann, for instance, introduces the term ‘no longer
dramatic text’, arguing that in such texts several classical elements, like
classical drama action, characters, structure, space and time, as well as
the convention of recording the demarcation between dialogue and stage
directions have been radically transformed or even abolished. Sometimes
‘no longer dramatic texts’ even strongly resemble screenplays or other (lit-
erary) genres, e.g. a novel or lyrics (such are the texts by Simona Semenič).
The so-called epization is at stake here, examined in detail by Peter Szon-
di in his famous book Theorie des modernen Dramas in 1956 (see Szon-
di 1987). According to Szondi, at the end of the 19th century the process
of demolishing the representational model of absolute drama (in short,
Aristotelian dramaturgy) has begun. Szondi discusses new tendencies in
European and American drama from 1880 onwards as examples of recon-
cilement with this crisis by introducing the so-called epic elements.
Today, the opposition between ‘text-centrism’ and ‘theatre-centrism’
has been surpas (Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič 2013, 98). Based on semiot-
ic theories Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič argue that theatre should be read
in close connection to drama and vice versa. Both text and performance
(as Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič argue; see Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič
2013, 98).
The term ‘postdramatic theatre’ has been coined and examined in de-
tail by German theatrologist Hans-Thies Lehmann. In his Postdrama-
tisches Theater (1999) he examined a series of practices, based on the neo-
avant-garde tradition from the 1960s. In postdramatic theatre, the text is
no longer in the centre of the performance but is only one of its elements.
This novel theatre is characterized by the use of heterogeneous styles; its
elements, like illusion, space, time, body and text are dismantled and then
combined in a new way.
Lehmann’s theory derives from the crisis of drama theatre, namely
the theatre dominated by the text. Lehmann has detected the shift from
the text-based theatre and culture to the new media age. Today, theatre
122 is no longer able to compete successfully with new media like television,
computers, virtual reality etc; however, new media seem to be much faster
and practical. In comparison with them—argues Lehmann in 1999—the
advantage and particularity of theatre lie in the fact that in theatre a per-
formance is performed as live, enabling the audience to be its active ob-
servers. Therefore one of the significant features of postdramatic theatre
is active participation of the audience which results in abolishing the tra-
ditional demarcation between the performers and the audience.
Similar heterogeneity and de-centralization can be observed in drama
as well. Gerda Poschmann, for instance, introduces the term ‘no longer
dramatic text’, arguing that in such texts several classical elements, like
classical drama action, characters, structure, space and time, as well as
the convention of recording the demarcation between dialogue and stage
directions have been radically transformed or even abolished. Sometimes
‘no longer dramatic texts’ even strongly resemble screenplays or other (lit-
erary) genres, e.g. a novel or lyrics (such are the texts by Simona Semenič).
The so-called epization is at stake here, examined in detail by Peter Szon-
di in his famous book Theorie des modernen Dramas in 1956 (see Szon-
di 1987). According to Szondi, at the end of the 19th century the process
of demolishing the representational model of absolute drama (in short,
Aristotelian dramaturgy) has begun. Szondi discusses new tendencies in
European and American drama from 1880 onwards as examples of recon-
cilement with this crisis by introducing the so-called epic elements.
Today, the opposition between ‘text-centrism’ and ‘theatre-centrism’
has been surpas (Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič 2013, 98). Based on semiot-
ic theories Pezdirc Bartol and Toporišič argue that theatre should be read
in close connection to drama and vice versa. Both text and performance
