Page 33 - Potocco, Marcello, ed. 2018. Literatura v preseku družbe, družba v preseku literature. The Crossroads of Literature and Social Praxis. Zbornik povzetkov. Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem
P. 33
a Murnik the crossroads of literature and social praxis, ljubljana, 2018 31
Institute of New Media Art and Electronic Literature, Ljubljana
Contemporary Slovenian Dramatic Writing and Socially
Engaged Staging Practices
The paper stems from the awareness that in the recent decades
it has no longer made sense to distinguish strictly between dra
ma and theatre as we are dealing with »no-longer-dramatic texts«
(Poschmann) and the no-longer-theatre or the postdramatic the
atre (Lehmann). In the crisis of representation and the dramatic
form, performative dimensions of texts come to the foreground, as
texts become Barthesian open texts – heterogeneous, performa
tive structures which are open in terms of meaning.
In the paper, we will analyze examples of »no-longer-dramatic
texts« by Simona Semenič in the light of their social engagement
and politicality, and we will complement these by tackling their re
cent socially engaged stagings in Slovenian theatre, where the tex
tual part plays a significant role (e.g. Metamorphoses 4: Black holes,
Republic of Slovenia, Odilo. Obscuration. Oratorio) and which range
from simple political agitation plays to complex treatments of so
cial themes. Who do these projects address and what are they try
ing to achieve?
We need to understand the scope and power of their politics and
their social commitment in the light of the position of art and the
atre in contemporary society, including the context of contempo
rary postpoliticality. Where are the loci of power today and how
are they addressed by contemporary Slovenian drama and theatre;
what is their stand towards them? Which strategies and tactics do
Slovenian drama and theatre use in the process and what is their
message for us?
Institute of New Media Art and Electronic Literature, Ljubljana
Contemporary Slovenian Dramatic Writing and Socially
Engaged Staging Practices
The paper stems from the awareness that in the recent decades
it has no longer made sense to distinguish strictly between dra
ma and theatre as we are dealing with »no-longer-dramatic texts«
(Poschmann) and the no-longer-theatre or the postdramatic the
atre (Lehmann). In the crisis of representation and the dramatic
form, performative dimensions of texts come to the foreground, as
texts become Barthesian open texts – heterogeneous, performa
tive structures which are open in terms of meaning.
In the paper, we will analyze examples of »no-longer-dramatic
texts« by Simona Semenič in the light of their social engagement
and politicality, and we will complement these by tackling their re
cent socially engaged stagings in Slovenian theatre, where the tex
tual part plays a significant role (e.g. Metamorphoses 4: Black holes,
Republic of Slovenia, Odilo. Obscuration. Oratorio) and which range
from simple political agitation plays to complex treatments of so
cial themes. Who do these projects address and what are they try
ing to achieve?
We need to understand the scope and power of their politics and
their social commitment in the light of the position of art and the
atre in contemporary society, including the context of contempo
rary postpoliticality. Where are the loci of power today and how
are they addressed by contemporary Slovenian drama and theatre;
what is their stand towards them? Which strategies and tactics do
Slovenian drama and theatre use in the process and what is their
message for us?
