Philosophers and thespians : thinking performance / Freddie Rokem.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rokem, Freddie, 1945-

Series:

Cultural memory in the present

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater and philosophy.

Drama--Technique.

Drama.

Physical Description:

xii, 227 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Other Title:

Philsophers & thespians

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2010]

Summary:

The interaction between philosophy and theater or performance has recently become an important and innovative area of inquiry. Philosophers and Thespians contributes to this emerging field by looking at four direct encounters between philosophers and thespians, beginning with Socrates, Agathon, and Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium and ending with a discussion between Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht about a short text by Franz Kafka. Rokem also examines in detail Hamlet's complex and tragic split identity as both philosopher and thespian, as well as the intense correspondence between Friedrich Nietzsche and August Strindberg. His investigations-which move between the fictional and the historical-culminate in a comprehensive discussion of the notions of performance and performativity as derived from the discursive practices of philosophy and performance. At times competitive or mutually exclusive, these discourses also merge and engage with each other in creative ways.

Contents:

Encounters. The first encounter : Plato's Symposium and the ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry

"Who's there?" : Hamlet as philosopher and thespian

Stagings of the self : the Nietzsche-Strindberg correspondence

Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht discuss Franz Kafka : exilic journeys

Constellations. Accidents and catastrophic constellations : performative agendas

Wishes, promises and threats : the performative storytelling of Walter Benjamin.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780804763493

0804763496

9780804763509

080476350X

OCLC:

319246418