Bertold Brecht

Introducción, traducción y edición bilingüe de los poemas de Bertolt Brecht musicalizados por Paul Dessau para la  comedia Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti (1940-41), estrenada en junio de 1948 en la Schaupielhaus de Zurich. La versión castellana, realizada a partir de la partitura de Brecht y Dessau, comprende:  "La canción de Puntila  (1-8)", "Himno", "La canción de los limones" y  "Balada del guardabosques y la condesa"

By Tatjana Hofmann, Dennis Ioffe, and Hans Günther, "Russian Literature", Vols 103–105, 2019, pp. 2-40.
***
Sergei Tret'iakov appears a unique figure in Russian intercultural scene of the early Soviet epoch. He was actively engaged in a number of groundbreaking creative projects many of which are analyzed and explained in the current essay sub specie common notions of modernism, documentalism, productionalism, and political aesthetics in general. The unique synthetic nature of Tret'iakov's socialist modernism could be described in a variety of ways, notably via his active participation in several characteristic Avant-Garde projects such as LEF or his preoccupation with the theoretical sides of the cultural production of his time (this discursive cluster includes his veshch'-theory which is discussed at length in the introductory article).

Epik tiyatronun öncülü olarak saydığımız Bertold Brecht tiyatrosu, tiyatro oyununun bir illüzyon olduğunu seyirciye göstermeyi kendine dert bilir. Haldun Taner'in 1965 yılında ilk kez sergilenen oyunu Vatan Kurtaran Şaban ise ülkemizde kabare ve politik hiciv türünün ilk temsillerindendir. Bambu tiyatro topluluğu Vatan Kurtaran Şaban oyununu postmodern bir bakışla ele alır; ben de bu yazımda Bambu tiyatronun 2019 yılı Vatan Kurtaran Şaban prodüksiyonunu Brechtiyen tiyatronun epik öğeleri kapsamında inceledim.

Eine Antikritik auf Bourdieus Kritik am biographischen Schreiben
Im Aufsatz wird versucht, grundsätzliche Kritikpunkte Bourdieus am biographischen Schreiben zu entkräften und dazu geeignete theoriebasierte Erwiderungen anzuführen, die dieser Methode der Geschichtsschreibung neutral bis positiv gegenüberstehen. Am Ende steht die Frage, ob Bourdieu mit seiner siebenseitigen Kritik tatsächlich biographisches Schreiben im modernen Sinne oder vielmehr die veralteten Formen der beinahe hagiographischen Lebenserzählungen im Blick hatte, als er 1986 die »biographische Illusion« verfasste.

An Anticriticism on Bourdieu’s Critique of Biographical Writing
The essay seeks to invalidate Bourdieu’s critique of biographical writing and to cite appropriate theory-based responses that are neutral or positive to this method of historiography. In the end, the question arises as to whether Bourdieu’s seven-page critique actually focused on biographical writing in the modern sense or rather on the obsolete forms of almost hagiographical life-stories when he wrote his »biographical  illusion« in 1986.

In Bakhtin's opinion, "the relation to meaning is always dialogic. Even understanding itself is dialogic." Particularly, the art of acting is such a dialogic relationship that fuses character and interpreter (performer) in the same unity of the presence before the audience. In other words, acting is a "dialectic" relationship, a dialogue on a higher level (a dialogue of personalities), as Bakhtin said. Dialogic acting manifests itself between two extreme aspects (identification and "distanciation") and as a merging of them. Putting the concrete manifestation of acting and staging into a formal model, we can affirm that the function of (theatrical) representation has a multitude of fuzzy values, situated between a theoretically absolute embodiment and a theoretically complete "distanciation." For instance, the former tends to be manifested in the "mimetic" rites (Durkheim) and in Stanislavski’s poetics. The latter is known as Brecht Verfremdungseffekt, or "alienantion effect," also to be found in traditional drama of the Extreme Orient, which inspired Brecht. (Today in the United States, Stanislavsks’s theories are a very important source of study for many actors. In contrast to Stanislavski, Brecht theorizes Verfremdungseffekt, endowing it with ideological connotations.) In mimetic rites, it is compulsory for the interpreter to identify itself with the archetypal character; this is a primary condition for the social, magical or religious efficiency of the ritualistic act(ing). More than (theatrical) performance, ritualistic act(ing) is a performative (re)presentation, i.e., the very archetypal event, in its immediate unfolding: drômenon as "lived transcendence" (Gusdorf), and Gadamerian metamorphosis. Alternatively, for both identification and distanciation as manners of acting, the concept of dialogism (Bakhtin) highlights one and the same discursive mechanism. The advantage is that the analysis of such a heterogeneous corpu—from modern theatre poetics to the ancient ritualistic performance—may operate in a relatively homogeneous way, with the same descriptive categories, borrowed from dialogic theory, and from theory of speech and fictional acts. Situated on the same axis of interpretation/ (re)presentation, "identification" and "distanciation" are fuzzy categories, with differences between them difficult to establish. This evokes Diderot's famous paradox, as reformulated by Lee Strasberg: "to move the audience, the actor must himself remain un moved.”
Keywords: (Theatrical) Performance, Identification, Distanciation, Artaud, Brecht, Gadamer, Stanislavski

This essay will explore two approaches to acting, namely Bertolt Brecht’s Epic performance and the American Method, and evaluate the ways in which they have been informed by 'implicit theories of the self'. This exploration will make use of an array of theoretical concepts, belonging to Auslander, Appadurai, Derrida, Roach and Zarrilli, among others, to discern what is truly at stake (be it on a theoretical or a practical level) when approaches to acting are intricately and inextricably tied to a particular theory or topography of the self.

Tras un breve recorrido por los distintos tipos de intervención textual que se han hecho sobre Fuenteovejuna para su puesta en escena contemporánea, nos detenemos en el análisis del libreto de dos espectáculos recientes. Ambos tienen en común su sustrato brechtiano en el acercamiento al original, lo cual nos permite reflexionar sobre la función de los cambios que sus respectivos dramaturgistas operan con respecto a la comedia de Lope.

After a brief overview of different types of adaptation based on Fuenteovejuna for the contemporary stage, the article focuses on analyzing the scripts of two recent productions. Both have in common their Brechtian roots in dealing with the original drama, and this fact allows for a consideration of the different goals both playwrights have pursued when dealing with Lope’s play.

Γλυτζουρής, A., Γεωργιάδη, K. (επιμ.), Παράδοση και εκσυγχρονισμός στο Νεοελληνικό Θέατρο. Από τις απαρχές ως τη μεταπολεμική εποχή. Πρακτικά του Γ΄ Πανελλήνιου Θεατρολογικού Συνεδρίου, Πανεπιστημιακές εκδόσεις Κρήτης, Ηράκλειο. 2010  (σσ.351-362)
ENGLISH TEXT FOLLOWS.
Τα έργα του Μπέρτολτ Μπρεχτ εισήχθηκαν στην Κύπρο μόλις το 1975, από το κρατικό θέατρο, τον ΘΟΚ. Ο σκηνοθέτης που καθιέρωσε τον Μπρεχτ στο ρεπερτόριο των κυπριακών θιάσων ήταν ο Χάιντς-Ούβε Χάουζ, ο οποίος ήρθε από την Ανατολική Γερμανία, ως απεσταλμένος της χώρας του, στο πλαίσιο συμφωνίας πολιτιστικής συνεργασίας ανάμεσα στα δύο κράτη. Σκηνοθέτησε παραστάσεις που είχαν ευρεία απήχησαν και αξιολογήθηκαν ως σημαντικά επιτεύγματα: Ο καυκασιανός κύκλος με την κιμωλία, Η Μάνα Κουράγιο και τα παιδιά της, Ο καλός άνθρωπος του Σετσουάν. Ο σκηνοθέτης απέσπασε τον καλύτερο εαυτό των ηθοποιών του, υψηλά επίπεδα ομαδικής εργασίας και αξιομνημόνευτες ερμηνείες, κυρίως από τις ηθοποιούς Δέσποινα Μπεμπεδέλη και Λένια Σορόκου. Το 1990 σκηνοθέτησε την (Αποτρεπτή) Άνοδο του Αρτούρο Ούι, με τη Δ. Μπεμπεδέλη στον ομότιτλο ανδρικό ρόλο. Δύο από τις παραγωγές που σκηνοθέτησε, Η Μάνα Κουράγιο και ο Καλός άνθρωπος, όταν παρουσιάστηκαν στην Αθήνα, έπεισαν τους Έλληνες κριτικούς ότι το κυπριακό κρατικό θέατρο κατέκτησε υψηλό καλλιτεχνικό επίπεδο.
[CONSTANTINOU H., A. (2010), “A German in Nicosia: The reception of Brecht in Cyprus through the stage director Heinz-Uwe Haus” in Glytzouris, Α., Georgiadi, Κ. (ed.). Tradition and Modernization in Modern Greek Theatre. From the beginning to the post WWII era. Proceedings of the 3rd Pan-Hellenic Theatre Studies Congress, Crete University Editions, Heraklion (pp. 351-362)].The plays of Bertolt Brecht were introduced in Cyprus no sooner than 1975, by the state theatre, THOC, as part of a policy for politically oriented popular theatre. The director who established Brecht in the repertoire of Cypriot theatre groups was Heinz-Uwe Haus, who was sent by the then East German government, in the framework of an agreement for cultural collaboration between the two countries. He staged the highly appreciated productions of The Caucasian chalk cycle, Mother Courage and her children and The Good Person of Szechwan. Following Brecht’s legacy and instructions, he achieved the best from every single actor/actress, high standards of group work as well as memorable acting, mainly from the actresses Despina Bebedeli and Lenia Sorokou. In 1990 he staged The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, with Bebedeli in the part of Ui. Two of the plays he directed, Mother Courage and The Good Person of Szechwan, when performed in Athens, persuaded the Greek reviewers that Cyprus state theatre has achieved high artistic standards.

Die 1920er-Jahre stehen wie kein anderes Jahrzehnt für Aufbrüche und Rückfälle. Wohl in keiner anderen Periode des 20. Jahrhunderts war die Sehnsucht der Menschen nach Neuerungen so gross wie zu jener Zeit. Urbanistische Visionen wurden entworfen, Städte wuchsen in rasanter Geschwindigkeit, klassische gesellschaftliche Rollenbilder wurden hinterfragt und aufgebrochen, benachteiligte Minderheiten verschafften sich Gehör in Kultur und Politik. Der hohe Innovationsgrad dieser Zeit fand direkten Niederschlag in der Experimentierfreudigkeit der Künste.

Na contramão das obras capitalistas espetaculares, coletivos de teatro de grupo paulistano fazem do pensamento crítico, do teatro político e da atuação periférica um modo de vida. Um coletivo de companhias de teatro, quase duas dezenas, que compartilham pensamento radical e multiplicam estratégias de luta. Sua própria definição enquanto "trabalhadores da cultura" é emblemática do seu engajamento com os atuais movimentos sociais locais e a tradição internacional marxista. Oferecendo épicos, óperas, cortejos e carnavais pelas ruas, ocupações e "quebradas" criam e recriam há mais de uma década espaços de encontro, conversa e festa pelas periferias paulistanas. Teatro público e gratuito que não sai anunciado pelos guias dos grandes jornais, mas corre como notícia no boca-a-boca dos companheiros, surge como assalto pelas praças do centro antigo no fim da tarde, ganha cartaz na frente de alguma das ocupações na periferia do extremo sul ou leste da cidade. Teatro que alimenta-se antropofagicamente do agitprop soviético e do teatro épico alemão para se fazer riso popular sulamericano. Pedagogia do oprimido que estende herança pelos cursos de teatro oferecidos em escolas públicas e quadras de favelas. Modo de vida que se vale dos mutirões para construir e suportar suas sedes para teatro, sempre generoso no compartilhar vinho, música e poesia.

Resumo: “O círculo de giz caucasiano”, peça do dramaturgo alemão Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), é aqui analisada sob a ótica do conflito entre ética e política no que diz respeito à justiça. Trabalha-se a ambiguidade conceitual e objetiva da justiça a partir da antinomia grega fundamental entre Têmis e Díke, que se desdobra – sem se reduzir – nas oposições: legal-igual, formal-material, humano-divino, etc. Para resolver a aporia da justiça injusta, não-equidade, recorre-se ao conceito de Ethos como realidade geradora, integradora e avaliadora de todo o agir humano, numa perspectiva abstrata, e à visão dialética da histórica, de cunho marxista, como processo onde se dá a conquista e a efetividade do justo. Por fim, discorre-se acerca do papel da hermenêutica em Azdak, personagem da obra, ambíguo e contraditório, que, por sua antítese ao direito positivo, possibilita a síntese histórica da transformação social. Assim, a hermenêutica em Brecht é uma via de luta, de concretização da conquista histórica do justo. Delineiam-se, assim, as bases de uma Teoria Brechtiana do Direito.
Palavras-chaves: Ética, Justiça, Mitologia Grega, Marx.

Some of Berthold Brecht theatre plays show aspects that could be related to some concepts proposed by Carl Marx. One play of that is "A Man is a Man" in which the story tells the dilemmas and identity conflicts that a person could face when do not have a critic viewpoint of oneself in society and the importance of each citizen for its development and functions. This article discusses this play proposing some reflexions related to concepts made by Marx.

Berthold Brecht rompeu com muitos dos paradigmas até então firmados no teatro no início do século XX. Muitas das propostas dele se devem à forte influência sofrida pelas ideias de Carl Marx, de sua vontade em contrapor e criticar as ideologias políticas e econômicas de seu tempo. O objetivo desse artigo será o de apresentar a história do texto de teatro Um Homem é Um Homem, escrito por Bertold Brecht e relacioná-lo com algumas questões presentes nas propostas de Carl Marx. Nessa peça, o dramaturgo consegue trazer questionamentos sobre conceitos outros, de maneira a fomentar reflexões nos espectadores sobre o processo de trabalho, alienação, mais valia e a importância da conscientização social para não conduzir a população ao caos bélico. Com a leitura do texto desta peça de teatro, podemos perceber que o autor levava suas transgressões estilísticas para além da estética, propondo que o teatro seria um importante meio para se atingir à significação da conscientização dos papeis e funções sociais dos indivíduos em sociedade.

Durante la primera mitad del siglo XX, en el marco de la evolución cientificista, surgen diferentes pensadores que pondrán en tela de juicio las estructuras sociales tanto del sistema de productores de discurso como de las técnicas artísticas. En este trabajo, desarrollaré las similitudes y diferencias en la manera de concebir el discurso de dos de ellos: Bertold Brecht y Michel Foucault.

ERMINIA PASSANNANTI

Il ladro di ciliegie ed altre versioni di poesia

Essay on Franco Fortini’s
Poetry Translation

This essay is a chapter from Erminia Passannanti’s doctoral thesis Essay Writing, Lyric Diction and Poetic Translation in the Work if Franco Fortini, PhD, UCL, 2004.
UCL / London

First published in the collective book
From Montale to Rosselli Da Montale a Rosselli:
La poesia degli anni 60-70,
Butcher / Moroni Eds.
Leicester: Troubador, 2004.


Il ladro di ciliegie ed altre versioni di poesia (1983)

Der Kirschdieb

An einem frühen Morgen, lange vor Hahnenschrei
Wurde ich geweckt durch ein Pfeifen und ging zum Fenster.
Auf meinem Kirschbaum - Dämmerung füllte den Garten -
Saß ein junger Mann mit geflickter Hose
Und pflückte lustig meine Kirschen. Mich sehend
Nickte er mir zu, mit beiden Händen
Holte er die Kirschen von den Zweigen in seine Taschen.
Noch eine ganze Zeitlang, als ich wieder in meiner Bettstatt lag
Hörte ich ihn sein lustiges kleines Lied pfeifen.

(Bertold Brecht)

The paper compares two works by Robert Louis Stevenson: the essay ‘François Villon: Student, Poet, Housebreaker’ and the short story ‘A Lodging for the Night’, both written in 1877, at a very early stage of Stevenson’s career. Both works deal with the fifteenth century poet François Villon, the first poète maudit of French literature. Stevenson was both attracted and repelled by Villon, and in both texts the poet stands out as a highly ambivalent figure. A comparison between these two works allows us to observe with clarity the different attitudes, literary strategies and narrative voices that Stevenson deploys in his essays and in his fiction respectively. More importantly, the close relationship between the essay and the short story allows us to make some guesses as to why Stevenson decided to interrogate a complex figure such as Villon by using two different approaches simultaneously,  and  on  the  contrasting  imperatives  of  morality  and ambiguity that characterise Stevenson’s writing as a whole. In addition, the short story and the essay bring to light some revealing analogies with Bertolt Brecht, an admirer of both Stevenson and Villon.

The antifascist exile beginning in 1933 led to a cooling among the émigrés of the artistic and literary modernist experiments of the Weimar Republic and to a return to realism and the traditional novel form. Epic and Exile examines the Popular Front– oriented cultural initiatives of the 1930s less in terms of their political strategy than in their function as a cultural and literary program for the exiles, implying a specific relationship to questions of artistic form, historical conceptions, and indeed the political as such. A popular front aesthetics is, Bivens argues, realist and modernist at once, and, in its focus on the opacities and contradictions of everyday life as a historical formation, it is particularly concerned with problems of the epic form.

Der deus ex machina Der lateinische Begriff deus ex machina (apò mēkhanês theós im klassischen Griechischen) bezieht sich auf das plötzliche und häufig unerwartete Erscheinen einer göttlichen Figur auf der Theaterbühne, wo er eine für den Menschen ansonsten unlösbare Problematik löst und damit das Narrativ der Aufführung zu seinem Abschluss bringt. Seine wörtliche Bedeutung, " Gott aus der Maschine " , stammt aus den frühen Tagen der Theateraufführung, als ein Schauspieler, der eine Gottheit darstellte, tatsächlich mit Hilfe eines kranartigen Mechanismus auf die Bühne herabgelassen wurde. Derartige übernatürliche Interventionen waren auf der Bühne des klassischen Griechenlands durchaus üblich, allerdings werden sie bereits von Aristoteles scharf kritisiert, der (in Kapitel XV der Poetik) argumentiert, dass

Theater, in Brecht’s view, should offer no escape from the hazards of worldly life, but should call attention to them. Zhao is also interested in alienation, but her approach is more intently focused on disrupting cinematic conventions, toying with the semantic structures we have come to expect even from documentaries.

Theatre is a way of expressing and telling
stories, interact and share: A process for individual
growth, communication, democratic training and to
take part in society.
Mauritius has a good potential to grow as a theatre
nation and we need to find out what must be added
to create sustainability and further development.
The aim of this study is to let key persons in
Mauritian theatre answer the question how to
create a sustainable Mauritian theatre in
development.
The method in use is both a part of the research
and a democratic process to build a network built
on consensus and unity: The future workshop.
The result shows a clear picture of four focus areas
that key persons in Mauritian theatre want to
develop and promote action in order to achieve a
sustainable theatre in development:
Structural support
Education
Theatre in Mauritian culture
Internal communication
The research also shows that actions should be
taken to investigate, improve or start six more
fields:
The sustainability of the theatre groups
The key persons in theatre
Undeveloped sectors
National association for theatre
National theatre festival
National theatre
The report ends with several suggestions how to
reach the four, primary, objectives and the 6 focus
areas. Leading to the question: who will take the
responsibility to a change? One answer is the
foundation of a National Theatre Association
acknowledged by the Republic of Mauritius.

Langue: Français GOUVARD (Jean-Michel), « Rimbaud, Brecht, Benjamin. Une "histoire splendide" » RÉSUMÉ-Cette étude s'appuie sur les conversations que W. Benjamin eut avec B. Brecht à propos de Rimbaud et du Bateau ivre. Elle vise à comprendre pourquoi le poète français a retenu l'attention du philosophe allemand, par la mission qu'il assignait à l'artiste et la vision de l'histoire qui était la sienne. À l'instar de la critique du surréalisme, la poésie de Rimbaud constitua pour Benjamin une étape importante pour penser la société de son époque, tout en confortant ses thèses sur l'histoire. MOTS-CLÉS-Le Bateau ivre, poésie, représentations culturelles, philosophie de l'histoire, poétique, littérature du dix-neuvième siècle

Brecht opõe o seu teatro épico ao teatro, dramático no sentido estreito do termo, a partir do qual Aristóteles formulou a sua teoria. É por isso que Brecht apresenta a dramaturgia correspondente como não-aristotélica, tal como Riemann criou uma geometria não-euclidiana.

Selon Stephane Lojkine, d'une oeuvre demeurent non pas la trame narrative mais des impacts visuels, unites scopiques. Des artefacts tels que la « scene » et « l'ecran » ont pour objet de capter le regard rendant accessible par dela la mimesis la "chose", indicible objet de la perte. Edward Bond a d'emblee semiotise a outrance l'objet scenique. Ainsi, de Lear, aux Pieces de guerre, s'est elabore le topos du "ballot", dont le "monstre" est un avatar dote de parole. La materialite du "ballot" s'est affinee, transmuant l'objet scenique en lieu "poetique" par empilement semique. La materialite irreductible de l'objet chez Bond a cede le pas a une appropriation purement linguistique chez Pinter. Grâce a ces artefacts, Bond a ici reussi a frapper au coeur de l'acte de representation, a son propre insu peut-etre, car au-dela meme de son discours politique manifeste, il a spatialise la perte, la chose indicible, la beance de multiples douleurs.

The Last Days of Jack Sheppard is the latest film by Anja Kirschner and David Panos, based on the inferred prison encounters between the 18th Century criminal Jack Sheppard and Daniel Defoe, the ghostwriter of Sheppard’s ‘autobiography’. Set in the wake of the South Sea Bubble financial crisis of 1720, the film explores the connections between representation, speculation and the discourses of high and low culture that emerged in the early 18th Century and remain relevant to the present day. Bringing to bear a host of allegorical associations and narrative forms, but re-fashioning them to create uneasy resolutions that probe into the problems and possibilities of class politics, the boundaries of different genre styles, the false division between high and low art, and the vexed question of ‘political art’, Neil Gray asked the film-makers to discuss their work.