New messengers : short narratives in plays by Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard and August Wilson / Tomás Kacer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kačer, Tomáš, author.

Series:

Spisy Filosofické fakulty Masarykovy university v Brně ; Císlo 421.

Opera Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis. Facultas philosophica = Spisy Masarykovy univerzity v Brně. Filozofická fakulta, 1211-3034 ; ; Císlo 421

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English drama--20th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

Messengers in literature.

American drama--20th century--History and criticism.

American drama.

Frayn, Michael--Criticism and interpretation.

Frayn, Michael.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (142 pages) : illustrations, tables.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Brno, [Czech Republic] : Masaryk University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The publication introduces the "new messenger" as a specific type of dramatic character, a follower of the conventional „messenger" whose presence in traditional drama serves several purposes, which the new messenger also fulfils. What makes it different is the fact that it is not an independent character, but the role it has is assumed by major characters in contemporary mainstream drama, such as journalists and reporters, politicians and their assistants, scientists and teachers, detectives and police officers, historical characters, philosophers and literary scholars, etc. The publication provides examples of the use of this type in a series of case studies of plays by two British playwrights Michael Frayn and Tom Stoppard, and an African-American playwright August Wilson.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 Structure of the Book

2 Why Mainstream

3 The Old Messenger

3.1 The Messenger as a Convention

4 The Poetic Tradition

4.1 Historical Development

4.2 Aristotelian Poetics

5 The Prague School Theory of Theatre and Drama

5.1 The Prague School Heritage

5.2 The Aesthetic Function

5.3 The Referential Function

6 Morphology and the Theory of Actants

6.1 The Propp Inspiration

6.2 The Messenger as Character-Function

7 Brecht's Heritage

8 Reportage

9 Introducing New Messengers

10 New Messengers on the Stage

10.1 A Remark Concerning the Case Studies

11 Pushing the Action Forward

11.1 The Voice from the Gadget

12 Interpreting for Others

12.1 The Eye-Witness Testifies

12.2 New Messengers as Political Agents

13 Informing (about) the Actual World

13.1 New Messengers as Teaching Agents

14 The New Messenger's Applications: a Conclusion

15 Epilogue

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical referencesa nd index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9788021082267

8021082267

OCLC:

993078051