DOCSLIB.ORG

The Theatre of Absurd: Blending the Existential and Nihilistic Concerns Prof Manminder Singh Anand Asstt

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Theatre of Absurd: Blending the Existential and Nihilistic Concerns Prof Manminder Singh Anand Asstt International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848, p- ISSN: 2348-795X Volume 2, Issue 05, May 2015 Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org The Theatre of Absurd: Blending the Existential and Nihilistic Concerns Prof Manminder Singh Anand Asstt. Prof. in English, Punjabi University Neighbourhood Campus, Jaitu, 151506 Pb. India. Mob: 919876807966 ABSTRACT which has evolved from their work. Their The present paper attempts to analyze the work expressed the belief that human conceptual aspects of Existentialism and existence has no meaning or purpose and Nihilism, as also to figure out the unconscious therefore all communication breaks down. aspects in the contemporary era carried out Logical construction and argument gives way from Samuel Beckett to Franz Kafka . An to irrational and illogical speech and to its attempt has been made to focus on the ultimate conclusion, silence.[2] uncanny aspects inseminal texts like A In the first (1961) edition, Esslin presented the Passage to India , Crime & Punishment , The four defining playwrights of the movement as Stranger , The Trial , Waiting for Godot and Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, Eugène also to compare and contrast their specific Ionesco, and Jean Genet, and in subsequent preferences. The paper, thus, presents an editions he added a fifth playwright, Harold overview of Aburdism whose hallmark is total Pinter–although each of these writers has rejection of all rationality in plot , character , unique preoccupations and characteristics that dialogue & projection the vision of a world in go beyond the term "absurd."[3][4] The which common man is out of harmony with the practitioners convey their sense of universe. bewilderment , anxiety ,wander in the face of in-explicable universe. Theatre of Absurd Keywords: Existentialist ; lost ; nihilism relishes the un – expected and the logically ;theatre of absurd ; irrational ; aimless ; albert impossible. camus; EugeneIonesco The classic work of absurdist theatre is Samuel Beckett‘s ― Waiting for Godot‖( 1752) INTRODUCTION , which receives some of the conventions of ― Absurd‖ is a term coined by the Hungarian clowning and farce to represent the born critic Martin Esslinwho exploited the impossibility of purposeful actions and phrase “ Theatre of Absurd” in 1961. paralysis of human aspiration . Theatre of Absurd is etymologically derived ― Nothing happens, Nobody comes , Nobody from the existentialist philosopher Albert goes, its awful !‖ Camus assessment in his essay ― The Myth of ― Krapps Last Tape‖ also belongs to the same Sisyphus‖ in 1942[1].It laid emphasis on the genre . Harold Pinters ― The Care-Taker‖ and modern sense of purposelessness in which ―The Birthday Party‖ are much celebrated aman finds himself in a situation of ― No examples of this genre. Exit‖. Albert Camus in ― The outsider‖ unmasks the myth of nothingness : The Theatre of the ― Man is not a rational creature living in an Absurd a designation for particular plays of intelligible world ,but an isolated being absurdist fiction written by a number of moving from nothingness to nothingness , and primarily European playwrights in the late anguished and absurd existence.‖ 1950s, as well as one for the style of theatre Available online:http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 913 International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848, p- ISSN: 2348-795X Volume 2, Issue 05, May 2015 Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org Eugene Ionescounleashed the trait of "the existential attitude", or a sense of transitoriness in his― The Bald Soprano‖ ― disorientation and confusion in the face of an The chairs‖ , ―Amedie‖. These are the most apparently meaningless or absurd world.[8] towering plays whichfall under the category of Many existentialists have also regarded ― Theatre of Absurd‖. traditional systematic or academic Some revolutionary instances are notices from philosophies, in both style and content, as too the novels and stories of Franz Kafka , in abstract and remote from concrete human which the characters face alarmingly experience.[9] incomprehensive predicament ― Fate‖. Existentialism was the outcome of the world It is in relation to the concept of the wars and the mass destruction which led to devastating awareness of meaninglessness that nostalgia & nihilism. Albert Camus claimed that Nietzsche , Sartre ,Heidegger , Albert "there is only one truly serious Camus can be clubbed as rigid nihilists . philosophical problem, and that is suicide" They postulated the fact that truth is in his The Myth of Sisyphus. errorenous , thus there is no truth .God is Esslin cites William Shakespeare as an belittled and is reduced to a mere creation of influence on this aspect of the "Absurd the human mind. drama."[5] Shakespeare's influence is Nietzsche ushered : “ God is dead , Man is acknowledged directly in the titles of alone in a godless universe”. Ionesco's Macbett and Stoppard's Rosencrantz Later Sartre corroborated to the nihilistc and Guildenstern Are Dead. approach :“ God , when he does not know what to do with us , kills us”. Theatre of Absurd is closely clubbed with Albert Camus Psychological Movements Facticity is a concept defined by Sartre in “Existentialism”which is derived from the Being and Nothingness as that "in-itself" of latin word “ Existere” which connotes ― which humans are in the mode of not being. Human Existence”. Existentialism is a According to various Existentialists, man is philosophy concerned with finding self and portrayed as he is thrown into this world as a the meaning of life through free will, choice, diseased animal .Man exists among and and personal responsibility. Existentialism against other men into a brutal adventure embraces diverse doctrines but centers on without any purposeness. Existentialism and analysis of individual existence in an the theatre of absurd portrays the bleaky side unfathomable universe and the plight of the of humanity and also lays stress on human individual who must assume ultimate finitude , misery and despair of the human life responsibility for acts of free will without any from cradle to grave . Christian existentialists certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or likes Kierkegaard, Unamuno, Dostovsky good or bad. believed that “ in God , Man may find Existentialism is a term applied to the work freedom from tension”. of certain late 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal The Hallmark of Theatre of Absurd is its total differences,[6] shared the belief that rejection of all rationality in plot , character , philosophical thinking begins with the human dialogue & projection the vision of a world in subject—not merely the thinking subject, but which common man is out of harmony with the acting, feeling, living human individual.[7] the universe . The absurd drama begins and In existentialism, the individual's starting ends arbitrarily . Its movement is rather point is characterized by what has been called circular as it ends where it starts . The Available online:http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 914 International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848, p- ISSN: 2348-795X Volume 2, Issue 05, May 2015 Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org dialogues are pointless , discursive , banal, day be terminated by an equally meaningless often degenerating into a meaningless babble. death. The language in absurd; play is often dislocated , full of clichés ,puns , repetitions According to Irving Wardle , The features of and non – sequences. For example, in the Absurd Play are : Ionesco’s “The Bald Soprano”(1950), the 1. A static situation does not progress but only protagonist sits and walks repeating the expands. obvious until it sounds like non – sense. But 2. Lack of any clear division of fantasy or fact. there is an underlying message of 3. A fluid environment which projects mental metaphysical distress. conditions in the form of visual metaphors . 4.An obsession with defeat , despair , fear and The most eminent exponent of this literary death. genre “ Eugene Ionesco” has unveiled the absurdist everyman as :“ Cut off from his The World War Second was the catalyst that religious , metaphysical and transcendental finally brought the Theatre of Absurd to life . roots which are lost , all his actions become During this period the prophet of the absurd senseless ,absurd,uselss”. Tom Stoppard's Antonin Artaud rejected realism in the Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is an theatre ,calling for a return to myth and magic absurdisttragicomedy first staged at the and to the exposure of the deepest conflicts Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966.[10] The within the human mind. play expands upon the exploits of two minor CONCLUSION characters from Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’. Thus, to sum up, The Theatre Of Absurd Comparisons have also been drawn to Samuel can be dubbed as a man‘s reaction to a world Beckett's ‗Waiting For Godot’, for the apparently without meaning or man as a presence of two central characters who appear puppet controlled or menaced by invisible almost as two halves of a single character. outside forces. Metaphorically speaking , this The Absurdist playwrights believe that our contrasts with "karmic" ways of thinking in existence is absurd because we are born which one wonders that "bad things don't without asking to be born , we die without happen to good people". Dr.Jan Culik seeking death , we live between birth and reiterates :― Absurd theatre can be seen as an death trapped within out body and reason , attempt to restore the importance of myth and unable to conceive of a time which we were ritual to our age , by making man aware of the not or a time in which we will not be ,for ultimate realities of his condition,by instilling nothingness is very much like the concept of in him again the lost sense of cosmic wonder infinity. The more we strive of perfection, & pre – medieval anguish . The Absurd definition & permanent distinctions , the more Theatre hopes to achieve this by shocking man absurd we are . Man is at the mercy of out of an existence that has become brutal , oppressive and arbitrary forces and institutions mechanical and complacent.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Absurdist Fiction
    Absurdist Fiction Absurdist fiction uses illogical or irrational events to point out that life is mysterious and can not be easily comprehended. In the early Twentieth Century science has shown man that he is not king of the animals, that Earth is not at the centre of the universe and that God and heaven do not exist. All the things that gave a man’s life meaning before have been pulled from under him and Absurdist Fiction seeks to reflect that meaninglessness. Bizarrely, it also finds humour in this situation – some compensation at least. As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on Comment [K1]: The bald statement of this his hard, as it were armour-plated, back and when he lifted his head impossible fact clearly shocks the reader and a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched draws them into the story. Immediately questions are raised as to how or why this segments on top of which the bed-quilt could hardly keep in position happened and indeed whether it really and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which happened at all or is some kind of dream or were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly metaphor. These questions are never before his eyes. answered. Comment [K2]: The neutral, almost scientific ‘What has happened to me?’ he thought. It was no dream. His tone contrasts with the bizarre content and emphasises the peculiarity of the situation room, an ordinary human room, if somewhat too small, lay Comment [K3]: The mention of this every-day peacefully between the four familiar walls.
    [Show full text]
  • Absurdity As Resistance in Arab Literature Melissa Hammond Hollins University
    Hollins University Hollins Digital Commons Undergraduate Research Awards Student Scholarship and Creative Works 2011 Absurdity as Resistance in Arab Literature Melissa Hammond Hollins University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/researchawards Part of the Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America Commons, and the Modern Literature Commons Recommended Citation Hammond, Melissa, "Absurdity as Resistance in Arab Literature" (2011). Undergraduate Research Awards. 3. https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/researchawards/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship and Creative Works at Hollins Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Research Awards by an authorized administrator of Hollins Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 2011 Wyndham Robertson Library Undergraduate Research Awards Essay by Melissa Hammond “Absurdity as Resistance in Arab Literature” My preliminary research included searches on the library’s website on humor as a literary tool. I searched about five to eight different databases and used dozens of word combinations to find information relevant to my topic. What surprised me about my database research was that even though I thought I only wanted to research humor in literature, I discovered several significant psychology sources that related to my topic. Though hesitant at first, I finally allowed myself to diverge from my original plan and delve into the less-familiar field of scientific study. My project headed in a new direction, transformed for the better. One thing I have learned from this experience is that research never progresses as planned, but unexpected findings can lead to breakthroughs.
    [Show full text]
  • Camus, Heller, and the Absurd Legal Novel by Matthew Parris a Thesis
    Camus, Heller, and the Absurd Legal Novel by Matthew Parris A thesis presented to the Honors College of Middle Tennessee State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation from the University Honors College Fall 2020 Camus, Heller, and the Absurd Legal Novel by Matthew Parris APPROVED ___________________________ Dr. Mischa Renfroe Department of English ___________________________ Dr. Philip Phillips, Associate Dean Honors College Dr. Robb McDaniel, Second Reader Department of Political Science ABSTRACT This thesis takes a critical look at Albert Camus’ The Stranger and Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 as two works in a new proposed subgenre of literature: the absurd legal novel. The Stranger’s court system relies on an instinctual, subjective judgment of Meursault’s character in order to judge him and condemn him to death, while Catch-22’s military bureaucracy traps its airmen in cruel, meaningless cycles through verbal trickery and coercion. Both are both flawed institutions whose absurd practices are little more than dangerous exercises in power over others. The last chapter of this thesis examines real world instances of absurdity in law, such as qualified immunity and immigration law, and uses the absurd legal novel as a basis to theorize why these absurd policies exist in a legal system ostensibly based on order and rationality. Ultimately, the absurd legal novel can teach readers how to think critically about the nature of power: who holds it, how they use it, who it is used against, and perhaps most importantly, how it maintains itself. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………..……….iii II. INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………...………1 III.
    [Show full text]
  • Absurdity in Communication in Modern Plays: Decoding the Language of Waiting for Godot and the Bald Soprano
    Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal Vol.8.Issue 3. 2020 Impact Factor 6.8992 (ICI) http://www.rjelal.com; (July-Sept) Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O) RESEARCH ARTICLE ABSURDITY IN COMMUNICATION IN MODERN PLAYS: DECODING THE LANGUAGE OF WAITING FOR GODOT AND THE BALD SOPRANO FIZA JEFREEN1, YAFIQUL ANAM KHAN2 1,2Department of English, Canadian University of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh [email protected], [email protected] Abstract Theatre of the absurd critically changed the stereotypical style of drama in modern literature. Post-world helped the existentialist and absurdist authors to question the significance of the earthy world and life. The absurdist dramas paved a new way to question the essence of early plays. Absurdism radically changed the narrative style of a drama, a new type of communication and expression was Article Received:02/09/2020 created with the absurd dialogues and characters. The language itself presents the Article Accepted: 30/09/2020 idea of the real world that has no meaning. Absurdist plays contain a human Published online:06/10/2020 condition that goes through an existential crisis, a voyage that only can end with DOI: 10.33329/rjelal.8.3.411 nothingness. So the language plays a resilient role that works as the motion of the plot. The style is relevant for the modern literature and present time that is going through a condition that cannot be answered with logic or reasoning, so the language in absurdist fiction mirrored the absurdity of life in every era.
    [Show full text]
  • “Absurd”. Man’S Only Freedom in This Condition Is the Exercise of His Conscious Mind
    THEATRE OF THE ABSURD 1950s-1960s Europe & U.S. THÉÂTRE DE L’ABSURDE The Theatre of the Absurd (French: théâtre de l'absurde) is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s, as well as one for the style of theatre which has evolved from their work. source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Absurd HISTORY & BACKGROUND ➤ centered in Paris ➤ avant-garde experiments of the 1920s and 30s influence the form ➤ named by scholar Martin Esslin (1961- text) ➤ playwrights considered Absurdists: Samuel Beckett, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet ➤ some plays by other playwrights considered “absurdist”= Edward Albee, Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter ➤ term means- out of harmony or ridiculous ➤ Waiting For Godot- by Samuel Beckett - considered masterpiece of absurdism TRAITS OF ABSURDISM ➤ without purpose ➤ illogical ➤ out of harmony ➤ useless ➤ devoid of reason ➤ meaningless ➤ hopeless ➤ chaotic ➤ lacking order ➤ uncertain PLOT, STRUCTURE ➤ Plot and Structure ➤ anti-realistic, going against many of the accepted norms of conventional theatre ➤ labeled by some critics as ‘anti-theatre’ ➤ often characterised by a deliberate absence of the cause and effect relationship between scenes ➤ non-linear plot developments, sometimes cyclical – ending where they began ➤ occasionally appearing as though there is no plot at all to speak of ➤ deliberate lack of conflict INFLUENCES & CONTEXT ➤ WWII ➤ aftermath of WWII - Europe ➤ philosophical movements - i.e. Existentialism ➤ Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) ➤ Albert Camus (1913-1960) Sartre - Being and Nothingness (1943) Existentialism and Humanism (1946) Camus- associated with Existentialism- he rejected the label- his essay The Myth of Sisyphus introduces the idea of the absurd- man’s futile search for meaning EXISTENTIALISM Existentialism refers to a particular view of the nature of man’s existence.
    [Show full text]
  • Absurdity in Franz Kafka's the Metamorphosis
    Research Journal of English Language and Literature (RJELAL) A Peer Reviewed (Refereed) International Journal Vol.7.Issue 4. 2019 Impact Factor 6.8992 (ICI) http://www.rjelal.com; (Oct-Dec.) Email:[email protected] ISSN:2395-2636 (P); 2321-3108(O) RESEARCH ARTICLE ABSURDITY IN FRANZ KAFKA’S THE METAMORPHOSIS: AN ANALYSIS Dr. SMITA MISHRA Assistant Professor Dept. of Basic Sciences & Humanities, PSIT, Bhauti, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India DOI: 10.33329/rjelal.74.412 ABSTRACT The Metamorphosis is a short story written by Franz Kafka and published in 1915. It is one of the most popular among Kafka’s work. It tells the story of a travelling salesman, Gregor Samsa, who woke up one morning to find himself transformed into a large insect. The main conflict of the story arises with Gregor and his family learning to adjust and adapt to his new affliction. It is the most influential and widely read piece of absurdist fiction on the twentieth century. It discusses themes of human guilt, inadequacy and isolation. The nature and psychology of Kafka’s novels are all directly related to dynamics he suffered as the son of an imposing father, who greatly influenced his life and career. The present paper will explore the aspects of Absurdism as dealt with in the story through several situations and characters. KEYWORDS: Isolation, Humility, Frustration, alienation, transformation, indifference. INTRODUCTION care of him. Eventually, his sister also gets tired of him and his upkeep, stressed from the job she has to To begin with an analysis of the idea of Absurdity maintain and coping with loss of her dreams and let’s first know what is the story all about.
    [Show full text]
  • Nit 2 the Experimental Novel
    NIT 2 THE EXPERIMENTAL NOVEL Objectives Metafiction Aesthetics of Absurdity Irony Black Comedy The Experimental Novel: Social Indirection &Individual Empowerment Summing Up References Key Words Questions Suggested Readings 2.4 OBJECTIVES B ines the phenomenon of the post second world war American fits range of thematic and technic$ experimentation. The novel of highly experimental in that it varied and diversified every postulate that modern American fiction since the first world war. John Barth's fiction ristic of this experimental phenomenon in American fictlon. Let various features of this experimental fiction. 2.1 METAFICTION n, as the term indicates, is fiction that attempts to go beyond its own laws e. This is, of course, achieved by assaulting the accepted laws of fiction. mode of fiction, instead of approximating or illusioning real life, nstruct about what life could be or would be. In the years to come. hooses, basically, to be prophetic or apocalyptic rather than realistic in ted sense of the term. It is primanly intellectual than perceptive. Robert : Metafiction assimilates all the perspectives of criticism into the process itself.. metafiction must either lapse into a more fundamental fiction or risk losing all fictional interest in order to maintain its intellectual sets out the metafictional task of a contemporary novelist in his novel, agonist, Ambrose is lost in a funhouse and Bart. finds the fbnhouse a valent fot the contemporary man's existence which is no different fiom funhouse. Barth's metafictional hero " envisions
    [Show full text]
  • AMERICAN REALISMS in the POST-POSTMODERN PERIOD by CAROLINE JEAN BARTUNEK (Under the Direction of Reginald Mcknight) ABSTRACT In
    AMERICAN REALISMS IN THE POST-POSTMODERN PERIOD by CAROLINE JEAN BARTUNEK (Under the Direction of Reginald McKnight) ABSTRACT In a critical essay that accompanies the presentation to my committee of my first novel, Hapsburg, I discuss the evolution of American literary realism from the nineteenth century to the present day, with special attention to the ways the artistic conventions of contemporary realist fiction may be linked to the institutional pressures of degree-granting creative writing programs. INDEX WORDS: Literary realism, creative writing, American novel, regionalism AMERICAN REALISMS IN THE POST-POSTMODERN PERIOD by CAROLINE J. BARTUNEK B.A., University of Southern California, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2014 © 2014 Caroline J. Bartunek All Rights Reserved AMERICAN REALISMS IN THE POST-POSTMODERN PERIOD by CAROLINE J. BARTUNEK Major Professor: Reginald McKnight Committee: Judith Ortiz Cofer Michelle Ballif Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Reg McKnight and Judith Ortiz Cofer, who provided important advice and encouragement in the years while I worked on Hapsburg, to Michelle Ballif for her professional guidance and theoretical insights, and to James Nagel, who inspired my own research into literary realism and taught me much about the pleasures and responsibilities of scholarship.
    [Show full text]
  • Absurd Element in My Stupid Boss Movie.Pdf
    ABSURD ELEMENT IN MY STUPID BOSS MOVIE SKRIPSI Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of SarjanaPendidikan (S.Pd) English Education Program By: NIKITA IBANATASA TAMBUNAN NPM 1302050143 FACULTY OF TEACHRERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2017 ABSTRACT Tambunan, Nikita Ibanatasa. 1302050143. Absurd Element in My Stupid Boss Movie. English Education Program. Faculty of Teacher Training and Education. University of Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara. Medan. 2017. The purpose of this study was to find out element of absurdity in My Stupid Boss movie and to find out the reasons of the existence of absurd elements in My Stupid Boss movie. This study was conducted by using qualitative descriptive research. The source of data was script of My Stupid Boss Movie. Data were analyzed utterances by utterances which contained absurd element in My Stupid Boss Movie The result showed that My Stupid Boss recounts the story of an absurd boss and his employees. Bossman (Reza Rahadian) is an Indonesian who owns a company in Kuala Lumpur. A large but disorganized company. The culprit for the disarray in the organization is the bossman himself. His first principle of management is that Bossman Is Always Right. Which means whatever the Bossman fancies, he'll get it done. And that is his following principle: Impossible We Do Miracle We Try. In the midst of this is Diana, the Bossman's secretary, who has to juggle at every turn with the odds that never seem to add up in the company. Diana's daily confronted with her boss's antics and her patience and good sense are all put to the test.
    [Show full text]
  • Resurrecting the Absurd
    Resurrecting the Absurd: Contemporary applications of the mechanics of style in Albert Camus’s L’étranger By Serge Anthony Larocque (100836153) A thesis and creative component submitted to the Department of English at Royal Holloway, University of London in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Practice-based PhD in Creative Writing 2018 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Serge Anthony Larocque, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: Serge Anthony Larocque Date: September 9, 2018 2 Abstract This thesis considers the communication and appropriation of Albert Camus’s philosophy of the Absurd through works of literary fiction, and addresses two questions: What elements of style did Camus use in L’étranger to facilitate the understanding and appropriation of his absurdist ideas, and how can these elements be applied or modified to suit a contemporary audience? This thesis argues that this literary mode transcends historical boundaries, and that the philosophical ideas which are at the forefront of absurdist fiction can help readers navigate the turmoil of their lives. This thesis also argues the importance of following a particular literary style when writing in this genre, which champions the use of a stream of consciousness-style narration, short and simple prose, and establishing a lack of emotion throughout the text. Lastly, this critical piece argues for the use of a specific type of main character, who embodies or represents the philosophical notion of Camus’s revolt through his behaviour and beliefs, as well as through his physical and psychological profile.
    [Show full text]
  • The-Theatre-Of-The-Absurd.Pdf
    The Theatre of the Absurd Absurd is that which is devoid of purpose It’s a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction. written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s, The plot may also revolve around 1. an unexplained metamorphosis, 2. a supernatural change, 3. a shift in the laws of physics. 4. Plots are frequently cyclical: 5. Nonsense may also be used abusively Work focused largely on the idea of existentialism and expressed what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay "The Theatre of the Absurd". He grouped these plays around the broad theme of the Absurd The Absurd in these plays takes the form of 1 man's reaction to a world apparently without meaning, 2or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces. This style of writing was first popularized by the Eugène Lonesco. aims are to 1shock its audience out of complacency, t 2. bring it face to face with the harsh facts of the human situation as these writers see it. Playwrights commonly associated with the Theatre of the Absurd 1 Samuel Beckett, 2 Eugène Ionesco, 3 Jean Genet 4, Arthur Adamov The mode of most "absurdist" plays is tragicomedy. As Nell says in Endgame, "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness … it's the most comical thing in the world" Theatre of the Absurd does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation. central features in many Absurdist plots 1Absence, 2 emptiness, 3nothingness 4, and unresolved mysteries Often there is a menacing outside force that remains a mystery; Much of the dialogue in Absurdist drama reflects this kind of evasiveness and inability to make a connection.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Caryn Leshay Livingston 2018
    Copyright by Caryn Leshay Livingston 2018 WAR SATIRE AS TRAGEDY: REDEMPTIVE GENRES FOR CATCH-22 AND SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Caryn Leshay Livingston, BA THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The University of Houston-Clear Lake In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements For the Degree MASTER OF ARTS in Literature THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE MAY, 2018 WAR SATIRE AS TRAGEDY: REDEMPTIVE GENRES FOR CATCH-22 AND SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Caryn Leshay Livingston APPROVED BY __________________________________________ Elizabeth Klett, Ph.D., Chair __________________________________________ Craig H. White, Ph.D., Committee Member APPROVED/RECEIVED BY THE COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES: Samuel Gladden, Ph.D., Associate Dean __________________________________________ Rick Short, Ph.D., Dean Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my sister, Racheal Gillean, in the hope and belief we will continue to make each other proud. Acknowledgements First, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Dr. Craig White for his continual and seemingly inexhaustible support and supervision throughout this project, and to Dr. Elizabeth Klett for her thoughtful guidance. Thank you also to my husband Eric Livingston, whose sense of humor helped me through many exhausting writing sessions, and to my wonderful parents-in-law, Peggy Determeyer and Robert Livingston, for their encouragement and support. Finally, thank you to my lovely friends Hillary Bronn and Morgan Rodgers, for keeping fun in my life during the past three years. I could not have done this without all of you. v ABSTRACT WAR SATIRE AS TRAGEDY: REDEMPTIVE GENRES FOR CATCH-22 AND SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE Caryn Leshay Livingston University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2018 Thesis Chair: Elizabeth Klett, PhD Athenian tragedy, despite the suffering it depicts, is theorized to offer emotional relief through its power to deliver a cathartic experience.
    [Show full text]