Staging history : Brecht's social concepts of ideology / Astrid Oesmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Oesmann, Astrid, 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956--Political and social views.

Brecht, Bertolt.

Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956--Criticism and interpretation.

German literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (242 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Staging History analyzes the commitment to social change present in the theatrical and theoretical writings of Bertolt Brecht. Challenging previous notions, Astrid Oesmann argues that Brecht's work was less dependent on Marxist ideology than is often assumed and that his work should be seen as a coherent whole. Brecht used the stage to release political ideas into experimental spaces in which actors and spectators could explore the relationships between abstract thought and concrete social life. Oesmann places Brecht within the context of the major leftist theorists of the twentieth century, particularly Adorno, Benjamin, and Lukàcs, focusing on their discussions of realism, aesthetics, natural history, and mimesis. Oesmann elaborates upon the vision of a "counter-public sphere" in a number of Brecht's theoretical texts and plays—especially The Three Penny Trial and Fear and Misery of the Third Reich—that present the emergence of such a sphere in the face of fascism. By exploring Brecht's theoretical writings, selected plays, and recently published theatrical fragments, Oesmann reveals unpredictable constructions of history and surprising distinctions among various political ideologies, while also proving that Brecht remains vitally relevant to a "post-communist" world.

Contents:

Front Matter

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Brecht and Theory

Prehistories

Man Between Material and Social Order

Revolution

Brecht's Archaeology of Knowledge

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 207-223) and index.

ISBN:

9780791483602

0791483606

9781423743927

142374392X

OCLC:

461442382