Theatre and Metatheatre

Theatre and Metatheatre
Title Theatre and Metatheatre PDF eBook
Author Elodie Paillard
Publisher Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Pages 317
Release 2021-11-22
Genre Literary Criticism
ISBN 3110716550

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The aim of this book is to explore the definition(s) of ‘theatre’ and ‘metatheatre’ that scholars use when studying the ancient Greek world. Although in modern languages their meaning is mostly straightforward, both concepts become problematical when applied to ancient reality. In fact, ‘theatre’ as well as ‘metatheatre’ are used in many different, sometimes even contradictory, ways by modern scholars. Through a series of papers examining questions related to ancient Greek theatre and dramatic performances of various genres the use of those two terms is problematized and put into question. Must ancient Greek theatre be reduced to what was performed in proper theatre-buildings? And is everything was performed within such buildings to be considered as ‘theatre’? How does the definition of what is considered as theatre evolve from one period to the other? As for ‘metatheatre’, the discussion revolves around the interaction between reality and fiction in dramatic pieces of all genres. The various definitions of ‘metatheatre’ are also explored and explicited by the papers gathered in this volume, as well as the question of the distinction between paratheatre (understood as paratragedy/comedy) and metatheatre. Readers will be encouraged by the diversity of approaches presented in this book to re-think their own understanding and use of ‘theatre’ and ‘metatheatre’ when examining ancient Greek reality.

Tragedy and Metatheatre

Tragedy and Metatheatre
Title Tragedy and Metatheatre PDF eBook
Author Lionel Abel
Publisher Holmes & Meier Publishers
Pages 264
Release 2003
Genre Drama
ISBN

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Abel's basic premise is that 'tragedy is difficult if not altogether impossible for the modern dramatist'. He then proceeds to provide a theory of the resolution of this problem. This seminal paper, first published in 1963, is now reprinted with a selection of complementary essays.

The Play Within the Play

The Play Within the Play
Title The Play Within the Play PDF eBook
Author Gerhard Fischer
Publisher Rodopi
Pages 478
Release 2007
Genre Art
ISBN 9042022574

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The thirty chapters of this innovative international study are all devoted to the topic of the play within the play. The authors explore the wide range of aesthetic, literary-theoretical and philosophical issues associated with this rhetorical device, not only in terms of its original meta-theatrical setting - from the baroque idea of a theatrum mundi onward to contemporary examples of postmodern self-referential dramaturgy - but also with regard to a variety of different generic applications, e.g. in narrative fiction, musical theatre and film. The authors, internationally recognized specialists in their respective fields, draw on recent debates in such areas as postcolonial studies, game and systems theories, media and performance studies, to analyze the specific qualities and characteristics of the play within the play: as ultimate affirmation of the 'self' (the 'Hamlet paradigm'), as a self-reflective agency of meta-theatrical discourse, and as a vehicle of intermedial and intercultural transformation. The challenging study, with its underlying premise of play as a key feature of cultural anthropology and human creativity, breaks new ground by placing the play within the play at the centre of a number of intersecting scholarly discourses on areas of topical concern to scholars in the humanities.

Drama, Metadrama and Perception

Drama, Metadrama and Perception
Title Drama, Metadrama and Perception PDF eBook
Author Richard Hornby
Publisher Associated University Presse
Pages 198
Release 1986
Genre Literary Criticism
ISBN 9780838751015

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Spectator Politics

Spectator Politics
Title Spectator Politics PDF eBook
Author Niall W. Slater
Publisher University of Pennsylvania Press
Pages 384
Release 2002-06-12
Genre Drama
ISBN 9780812236521

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Spectator Politics is the first major study of metatheatre, or theatrically self-conscious performance, in Aristophanes. Using a reception-based performance criticism, Niall Slater elucidates the comic effectiveness of the earliest surviving comedies in the Western tradition. Slater demonstrates that Aristophanes employed metatheatre not simply to entertain but also to teach his audience how to read and interpret performance in other key public venues of the ancient democracy of Athens, such as performances in the political assembly and law courts. Aristophanes was, Slater contends, the first performance critic. Spectator Politics shows how Aristophanes' comedy served the Athenians by helping them to become active political participants, teaching them to see through deceptive performances, whether on stage or in the political sphere. His comedies use self-conscious performance to encourage the public to move out of the role of passive consumers of spectacle and to reengage the political process. Aristophanes' critique of performance prefigures much in the performance-dominated culture of the modern American political scene. Throughout, detailed readings of the original stagings illuminate the plays for today's audiences and performers, while Slater's cultural critique provides much for those interested in Athenian democracy and its lesson for the contemporary political scene. Spectator Politics offers a salutary demonstration of the power of art to expose and resist the performance powers of would-be demagogues.

Drama and the Postmodern

Drama and the Postmodern
Title Drama and the Postmodern PDF eBook
Author
Publisher Cambria Press
Pages 394
Release
Genre
ISBN 162196938X

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The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy

The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy
Title The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy PDF eBook
Author Martin T. Dinter
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Pages 449
Release 2019-04-04
Genre Drama
ISBN 1107002109

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Provides a comprehensive critical engagement with Roman comedy and its reception presented by leading international scholars in accessible and up-to-date chapters.