Theatre Of The Absurd Research Articles

Reading The Dissolution of Traditional Family Values through Harold Pinter’s Betrayal

This paper examines the disintegration of traditional British family values as reflected in Harold Pinter’s play Betrayal (1978). Historical events like the world wars and the Great Depression, along with advancements in technology, have profoundly influenced the Theater of the Absurd by deepening its exploration of existential themes and enhancing its stage capabilities. The devastating effects of wars have deeply impacted the disintegration of society and the fragmentation of the collective spirit, significantly affecting the institution of the family as well. The play vividly portrays the erosion of familial structures, with characters betraying each other in a bid to fill the void left by social upheavals. The paper explores the evolution of British family dynamics from the 1950s onwards. It further conducts a textual analysis of Betrayal, focusing on themes of dysfunctional families, self-betrayal, and communication breakdowns. The paper ultimately argues that the fragmentation of family values depicted in Betrayal mirrors the broader social disintegration post-WWII. The traditional family, once a foundation of stability, is portrayed as increasingly susceptible to internal and external pressures, leading to its eventual collapse. This study provides a critical insight into the transformations of family unit during post-war Britain and their representation in modern drama.

Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the Absurd Theatre

The research consists of three sections and conclusion. Section one deals with the idea of absurdity in the modern world has attracted many writers to thereby portray the bitter reality of a society being dominated by the discourse of modernism Section two focuses on Samuel Beckett's life and his works. In addition, Beckett places his characters in a dreamlike setting in his two-act tragicomedy Waiting for Godot (1948). The play has been criticized by a number of people; in 1953, Jacques Audiberin called it "a perfect work which deserves a triumph". Studies in Section Three Anticipating Godot as an Absurd Drama: The paper concludes with a list of references and a conclusion.. This study examines the meaning-seeking process, existentialist themes, and the human condition in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot within the context of absurd theater. The play's repetitive dialogue and austere setting make it an ideal illustration of the absurdist belief that life is meaningless. The research looks at how the characters, Vladimir and Estragon, interact to show how their waiting for the illusive Godot symbolizes the pointlessness of life and the fight against hopelessness. The ridiculous routines and mutual dependence of the characters highlight the alienation and loneliness that come with living in the contemporary world. By situating Waiting for Godot in the context of Absurd Theatre, this research emphasizes Beckett's innovative use of language and structure, which challenges traditional narrative forms and invites audiences to confront the complexities of existence. Ultimately, the study reveals how Beckett's work serves as a poignant commentary on the human experience, encapsulating the essence of Absurdism through its exploration of time, identity, and hope.

Conspiracy Theatre of the Absurd: “Birds Aren’t Real” as Parodic Hypermimesis

ABSTRACT Emerging from an ad hoc effort to counter Trump supporters at a 2017 Women’s March, the Birds Aren’t Real movement has transformed from viral performance art into a Gen Z response to political conspiracy culture. This article explores the campaign as an extension of the kind of postmodern parody that became iconic with shows like The Colbert Report in which comedians engage in absurd reproductions of increasingly absurd political realities. Inspired by the work of cultural theorist Nidesh Lawtoo, we argue that Birds Aren’t Real engages in parodic hypermimesis, or an ironical meta-mimicking of the digitally networked and infective mimetics responsible for the contemporary proliferation of conspiratorial misinformation. After explaining how parodic hypermimesis works, we illustrate its enactment in the Birds Aren’t Real movement, particularly in the way that it relies on doubling to debase conspiracy rhetoric as a predictable set of topoi, cultivates a conspiracy community via intoxicating affect, and derides the mainstream media by baiting outlets with parodic spectacles. Ultimately, this essay ponders whether, in reverberating conspiracy logics, such well-intentioned parody can successfully ascend the cardinal sins it critiques.

Theatre of the Absurd, Pre-Election Matters and the Future of Democracy in Nigeria: Reflections on APC V Machina

The practice of theatre of the absurd is more present and popular with politicians in Africa than with playwrights. Particularly in Nigeria, the grotesque images and ridiculousness in the utterances of those saddled with the responsibilities of governance can only be viewed as characters in any known absurdist’ play. Nigeria is a nascent democracy, and the 2023 general elections are fraught with inadequacies right from the moment of selection of party candidates through the election proper. Candidates, political parties executives and the court have engineered these inadequacies. The concern of court being the last hope of common man, is on the administration of justice as perceived by parties involved in a case and the society. Therefore, a flawed judgment can only serve to dampen the peoples’ belief in the sanctity of the judiciary. On 28th May 2022, Bashir Machina contested and won the All Progressive Congress’s Yobe North Senatorial primary election unopposed, and in June the same year, the political party submitted the name of Ahmad Lawan to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the main election into the Senate. In the ensuing litigation, both lower court and court of appeal affirmed the authentic candidacy of Machina, however, the Supreme Court in its judgment, affirmed Ahmad Lawan as the APC candidate for the election to the Senate. It is against this background that this study examines APC v Machina and argued that in this particular case, justice has been perceived not to have been done by the large segment of the society based on the peoples reaction in the media. We conclude that the five justices of the Supreme Court with divided resolution of three against two, and other participants in the litigation, merely represent different characters of an absurd drama fit only for the stage.

The Dramatic Structure in the Theatre of Absurd in Iraqi Artist

The Dramatic Structure in the Theatre of Absurd in Iraqi Artist

Melih Cevdet Anday’s “Dead Want to Talk” in Terms of the Playwriting Tendencies of “The Theatre of the Absurd

Melih Cevdet Anday’s “Dead Want to Talk” in Terms of the Playwriting Tendencies of “The Theatre of the Absurd

Re-reading Eugene Ionesco’s rhinoceros through an ecological lens: exploring the aesthetic forms of nature in the theatre of the absurd

Re-reading Eugene Ionesco’s rhinoceros through an ecological lens: exploring the aesthetic forms of nature in the theatre of the absurd

The semantics of language in Eugène Ionesco’s plays

The goal of this paper is to present the characteristics of Eugène Ionesco’s dramatic texts, a reason why the genre of avant-garde and theatre of the absurd are also considered, with a view to revealing their major ways of functioning. By pointing out the different dimensions of dramatic language, the emphasis is on those elements that differ from current oral and written language. Starting from the times of decadentism, a crisis of character can be noted in the theater around a type of individual who, as an alienated individual, cannot find his identity in a hostile surrounding world. One of the direct consequences of this crisis will be the impossibility of interpersonal communication, which will be best demonstrated with the concept and tenets of the theater of the absurd. In this context, the study of the theater of the 20th century is done from the perspective of cognitive semantics, as an autonomous level of language. The approach is organised around two notions: dramatic conventions and the actual language of the dramatic texts. The interpretative theory rooted in semantics is applied while analysing Ionesco’s short plays. The starting point is the linguistics of the text as described by Eugen Coşeriu. Capturing the meaning and the means by which it is constructed is one of the objectives in accord with the main principles of cognitive linguistics. The way of analysing the meaning in a text is given by the presence of some textual functions, as possibilities provided by language through relationships that the linguistic sign establishes in the discursive act. The specificity of the discourse comes from the combination of verbal and non-verbal elements, in order to highlight the playwright’s original style. The particularities of this type of language based on an ontological representation of the actional nature in human existence are also investigated. There are two dimensions recognisable in the language of literature: one is specific to the genre and the other one is particular, giving originality and uniqueness. The textual meaning in between these dimensions needs to be reconstructed from all their constituents identifiable at different levels of analysis. Ionesco distanced himself from the conventional and traditional theatre, finding a new formula for the dramatic genre in his own vision of what drama should be like. Ionesco’s dramatic work includes short plays and extensive plays in which the author expresses his adversity against totalitarian regimes. He is the representative of the theater of the absurd and anti-theater. The corpus for this research is composed mainly of the plays The Bald Soprano, The Lesson and The Chairs, the most representative plays for the avant-garde spirit, short plays on the theme of language emptied of meaning and non-communication. Language has an impact on thinking and the resulting actions, which relates it to the ontology of human existence. As dramatic language is preponderently structured on dialogical interactions (and less on monologues, soliloquies and asides), its essence can be revealed by decomposing and recomposing them, from the angle of the conventions specific to the dramatic genre. The analysis of the selected fragments from the corpus has the role to highlight their semantic features in terms of conceptual representations.

Marketing and the theatre of the absurd

The scientific tradition in marketing research has alienated marketing practitioners from academics. As a counterpoint, we argue that theory from the humanities, especially theatre and drama studies, can provide meaningful insights into consumer culture. Inspired by the Theatre of the Absurd, we develop four absurd prompts present in consumer culture: menace, aphasia, parody, and frustration. Taken together, these prompts amount to an absurd condition, a hall of mirrors, in which consumers inevitably find themselves. While the market promises different ways out of this condition, through manners, speech, sincerity, and attainment, we argue that these promises remain empty, amounting only to absurd inversions leading to new halls of mirrors. Through the lens of the Theatre of the Absurd, we map such promises of inversions and their implications for marketing theory.

The Theatre of the Absurd With Reference to Modernism

The Theatre of the Absurd With Reference to Modernism

The Theatre of the Absurd With Reference to Modernism

The Theatre of the Absurd With Reference to Modernism

The Intersection of Reality and Fiction in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: A Study of Absurdity and Metadrama

The article titled "The Intersection of Reality and Fiction in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: A Study of Absurdity and Metadrama" explores how Tom Stoppard's play transforms the minor characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet into central figures within an absurdist framework. This study examines the play’s themes of human identity, confusion, and helplessness, common in the Theatre of the Absurd, using postmodernist metadramatic techniques. By employing metadrama, Stoppard highlights the blurred lines between reality and fiction, as seen in the characters' struggles to understand their existence within the play. The paper delves into the philosophical implications of absurdity, drawing on the ideas of Albert Camus and other theorists to illustrate how Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead reflects the chaotic and purposeless nature of human life. Through various metadramatic devices like the play within a play, role-playing, and the breakdown of conventional narrative structures, Stoppard's work is analyzed as a profound commentary on the human condition and the search for meaning in an incomprehensible world.

HAROLD PİNTER’İN ESTETİĞİNİN YARATILIŞI: EL YAZMALARINDAN MÜSVETTELERE AYIŞIĞI VE KÜLLER KÜLLERE OYUNLARI

Martin Esslin emphasizes that ‘‘instead of being in suspense as to what will happen next, the spectators are, in the Theatre of the Absurd, put into suspense as to what the play may mean. This suspense continues even after the curtain has come down’’ (1960, p. 14). In accordance with Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdung effects, alienating the audience from the characters and urging him/her to think, question and respond to the events or the dialogues taking place on stage, Pinter’s plays — with all the obscurity and uncertainty the characters are caught in — endow their audiences with more than enough tools to become subjects in the meaning-making process of his plays. No matter whether Pinter’s works are categorized as modernist through his transformation of the audience into subjects or just like more recently categorized as postmodernist in the works of Austin Quigley and Mireia Aragay (2009), what enables Pinter to be categorized as both is the obscurity of the language that he uses, and particularly in case of postmodernism, just like Fredric Jameson’s assertion of the “breakdown in the signifying chain” (1984, p.71), the broken correlation between the signified and signifiers in the dialogues that Pinter uses, creates the effect of ambiguity in his works. Pinter, in parallel to these definitions, states that ‘‘If I’m being explicit, I’m failing’’ (qtd in Knowles, 2009, p. 75). Considering how important the creation of ambiguity and uncertainty in Pinter’s plays is, this essay focuses on the creation process of the Theatre of the Absurd in Pinter’s Moonlight and Ashes to Ashes by examining the handwritten and type scripted manuscripts available in the Harold Pinter Archive at the British Library (UK).

Discourse Failure as an Aesthetic Motif in the Absurd Theatre: A Comparative Study of Samuel Becket’s Waiting for Godot and Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s The Tree Climber

The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of discourse failure in the absurd theatre and prove how it can be actively used as an aesthetic means which enhances the pragmatic effectiveness of communication by grabbing the attention of the audience. The study examines two absurd plays; Tawfiq Al-Hakim's Ya Tali al-Shajarah (The Tree Climber) and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. The paper shows how discourse failures are not used by both Becket and Al-Hakim spontaneously. They have been used to reveal their aesthetic and dynamic impact on the reader. Both writers try to evoke and control not just the actual focus of the audience, but also their way of perceiving, their mood, which is not directed towards concrete objects, but has to do with their general sensibility. Keywords: Waiting for Godot, The Tree Climber, Discourse Failure, Absurd Theatre.

A Literature Review on the Study of Eugene Ionescos Rhinoceros

Eugene Ionesco, recognized as one of the originators of absurdist theatre and known as the king of absurdist theatre, is the author of The Chair, The Bald Songstress, The King is Dying and other works. Rhinoceros is one of Ionescos rare works with political overtones, his most distinctive masterpiece, and a classic of absurdist theater. Taking the original text of Rhinoceros as the starting point, this paper selects relevant core publications in recent years and utilizes the literature research method and logical analysis method to study the significance and value of Rhinoceros, the imagery of rhinoceros, the study of Rhinoceros and similar works, and the study of the social acceptance of Rhinoceros since the 1990s. Since then, domestic scholars have summarized the research results of Ionesco and pointed out the shortcomings of the current research, with a view to laying a foundation and providing a direction for the further study of this work.

Subversion of Gender and Marriage in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"

If we imagine culture as a rainbow, Literature can be defined as one of its various shades of colour which not just constitutes it but also expresses it to some extent. Literature can be called an important bi- product of culture which constitutes the ideas, customs, practices, and social behaviour of human beings living in a specific time- period in society, impacted by the varied social, political, and economic conditions of the times. Edward Albee’s plays comes under the genre of Absurd Theatre which was a predominant product of literature after World War II. His plays give us a preliminary glimpse of post-modernist society, in rebellion against order and structure, its disillusionment, confused identities, shattered values, fumble beliefs and the acknowledgement and acceptance of it without offering resistance. One of the major themes in the play “Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf” is the theme of Gender identities and marital relationships. In this play, Albee has subverted the conventional notion of marriage and gender, which has provided more agency and control to the male counterpart as compared to the female. Love also defies the usual notions of ‘love you forever’ and ‘till death do us apart’ by being based on ‘If not you, then somebody else’, ‘Not a big deal as it is not a commitment of lifetime’, mind games, teasing, exploitation, jealousy, infidelity overall, doing as one likes.

Dowager queens and Dewey decimals: psychiatry and the theatre of the absurd

Dowager queens and Dewey decimals: psychiatry and the theatre of the absurd

Defamiliarizing Reality for Mental and Physical Subjection: Rereading Harold Pinter’s The Room and The Dumb Waiter as Political Comedies

While Pinter's earliest plays have been recognized in the modernist history of theatre as comedies of menace and his later plays as political comedies, this article argues that his earliest plays are equally very liable to be interpreted as political comedies. Regardless of their absurdist dramatization of people's helpless exposure to external, unidentifiable threats, a common post-WWII characteristic feature of human experience, I claim that The Room and The Dumb Waiter (both written 1957, staged 1960), two model examples of Pinter's earliest oeuvres, do not simply follow the aesthetic of absurdist theatre to express human futility. The audience's experience of viewing the theatrical performances of both plays in terms of discursive cyclicality or character normality is subverted into one of changeability, strangeness, and contradiction. To foreground the political implications of such revolutionary theatrical experience, Pinter's plays are examined in the light of his unique use of defamiliarization, relying not on Brecht’s traditional techniques of singing, dancing, image-projecting, or captioning, but on a simple, dual technique of image destruction and creation. It consists of divesting characters of their normality and portraying them instead as individuals who identify only with unusual images of place, time, body, and consciousness. Using this special technique of defamiliarization, both plays are examined to reveal Pinter's central political theme of undermining reality for purposes of mental and physical subjections.

A Study of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot”

The theatre of the Absurd includes plays wherein humans are mere puppets full of irrational and illogical thoughts. From Aeschylus to Ibsen, the artists aimed at constructing meaning out of chaos and at gaining a momentary stay at confusion. So drama was then a temporary escape from the utter meaninglessness of life, a brief period when the audiences could dismiss their tensions and enter into a fictional world based on the assumption that man was a rational animal. But, ‘The Theatre of the Absurd’ ruthlessly shattered these notions, advocating instead their view of human being as an isolated existence and to represent life as it moves from nothingness whence it came to nothingness where it must go. The same notion is very much significant in Shakespeare’s line: “Life is a tale told by an idiot Full of sound and fury signifying nothing.” (Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth) Martin Esslin provided justification for the emergence of this new wave in the theatre, in his book: “The Theatre of the Absurd” which attempts to make man face up the world in which he lives and human conditions as they really are. As it was believed that the real dignity of man lies in his ability to face the reality in its senselessness, to accept it freely, without fear, without illusions and to laugh at it. This term is applied to a group of dramatists in the 1950s who shared the same predicament of man in the universe. Incidentally, the word ‘absurd’ is used in music which denotes a ‘jarring note’ or ‘discord’. This research paper is an attempt to study Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” a tragicomedy in two acts, published in 1952, originally in French as En attendant Godot and first produced in 1953. It is a true innovation in drama that successfully depicts the search for meaning in a world of chaos.

Betsuyaku and the Comedy of Entropy

Abstract: Betsuyaku Minoru was one of the leading postwar dramatists when he passed away in 2020. This special section looks at Betsuyaku’s career from his early 1960s plays to his monumental 2007 work Yattekita Godot (Godot Came). The essays look at Betsuyaku’s relationship with the Theatre of the Absurd, both in Japan and in the West. This is especially true when one looks at the influence of Beckett and how Beckett was received in Japan. In this introductory essay, I argue that the perception of absurdism, inimically linked with tragedy, missed the connection to comedy, especially entropic comedy. Betsuyaku’s works are filled with this comic form wherein bodies, identities and social structures fall to decay and dissolution. Even as these bodies and structures decay, however, a dark humor pervades in Betsuyaku’s work; seeing his work through this comedic lens allows for greater understanding and appreciation of this major playwright.