Carnival Texts comprises three related dramatic works, all of which have as their point of departure Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of carnival, a literary style designed to subvert dominant assumptions through chaos and humour. Making creative use of post-Brechtian performance theory, these texts blur the distinction between spectator and performer in a fascinating exploration of physical, moral and cultural upheaval in a postmodern age. Performance theory is crucial to understanding how performance affects collective understanding, and this book will be of interest to a broad range of students of drama and theatre.
Inhoudsopgave
Preface
PART ONE: TEXTS
Strangers to Paradise
Brides, Bombs and Boardrooms
Fete
PART TWO: ESSAYS
Fear into Laughter – James Mac Donald
Bodies in Pain: Realism and the Subversion of Spectacle in Brides, Bombs and Boardrooms – John Lutz
Blowing Up the Nation: Vulnerability and Violence in James Mac Donald’s Post-national England – Jessica O’Hara
Over de auteur
James Mac Donald is a playwright whose work is regularly staged in the United Kingdom. He is an associate research fellow at the University of Exeter and the author of Russia, Freaks and Foreigners and Carnival Texts, both published by Intellect Books.