Jan Mukařovský and theatre

• Authors: Ondřej Sládek
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Jan Mukařovský (1891−1975) has played a prominent and unique role in the history of Czech Structuralism. He is the author of numerous theoretical and overview works on theatre and dramatic art, but only a part of it is widely known and commented on. This gives rise to the impression that Mukařovský dealt with theatre in bursts only, in fact producing only the occasional text. However, the opposite is true: published studies are just a fragment of his actual, systematic work developed in the field of study of dramatic art and aesthetics of drama. The entire collection of Mukařovský's texts dealing with theatre and dramatic art can be classified into six main types according to their theme and genre:1) Literary-aesthetic criticism of specialized works on drama and dramatic art, 2) Theatre criticism, 3) Articles on plays and dramatists, 4) Theoretical and overview studies, 5) Lectures, 6) Various – dealing with theatre and dramatic art. The main aim of this study is not to provide a complete and exhaustive account of Mukařovský's studies on theatre and dramatic art, but rather to identify their most important characteristics, mutual relations, the circumstances in which they were produced and the broader context. The author of the study argues that a) Mukařovský's interest in theatre and stage speech was always an integral part of his research into poetics, aesthetics and semiotics of art, and b) despite several internal contradictions, his scientific orientation is in principle continuous.

Keywords

EN

Jan Mukařovský; Czech Structuralism; theatre; drama; theory of theatre; literary-aesthetic criticism

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts
• Journal: Theatralia: Revue současného myšlení o divadelní kultuře (Theatralia: The revue of contemporary thought on theatre culture)
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 122-136
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Ondřej Sládek

• Theatralia, redakce, Masarykova univerzita, Filozofická fakulta, Katedra divadelních studií, Arna Nováka 1, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic