GERMAN 580
Readings in Modern Drama
Wenn wir ehrlich sind
ist das Theater an sich eine Absurdität
aber wenn wir ehrlich sind
können wir kein Theater machen
(Thomas Bernhard: Der Theatermacher)
We will engage in selective readings of modern German-language plays since 1800 and examine related performance practices and the notion of a performative turn in the context of dramatic (i.e. text-based) theater. Each session will have a different analytical focus and center on a specific constellation of plays. At issue are modern adaptations of classical myth (Euripides, Franz Grillparzer) the staging of history in classical and post-classical drama (Friedrich Schiller, Franz Grillparzer), social criticism on the stage and in prose (Veza Canetti), theatrical parody and meta-comedy (Thomas Bernhard), the probing of male subjectivity in Viennese Modernism via innovative short forms (Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal), and contemporary feminist revisions of European world theatre (Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Fatma Aydemir). Requirements: Readings, discussion, presentations, paper/project. In German.