The Political Potential of Autonomous Time Generation in Jean Genet's The Balcony

Abstract

With the development of timekeeping machinery in the late Middle Ages, time became publicly visible on mechanical dials. This way of spatializing time aimed to crystallize the flow of time and experience into eternity at a single moment, reaching its peak in the 19th century. The natural rhythm of time and the discrete temporality of personal experience were strictly unified into a series of points, distributed along a historical timeline that never turns back. This unidirectional arrow of time remains evident in the study of The Balcony. Research on The Balcony has primarily focused on its political expressions in space, often overlooking the potential of theatrical temporality. This indicates that studies of the political aspects of The Balcony are overly focused on the dimension of visibility, neglecting the exploration of theatrical invisibility. This article will utilize textual data and analysis, based on Deleuze's theory of Aion time, to develop a discussion on the pure formal time in Genet's theater, incorporating relevant political concepts to explore its autonomously generated political potential further, focusing on the characteristics of theatrical time that continuously provoke questioning and ambiguity.