Theatre of estrangement : theory, practice, ideology / Silvija Jestrovic.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Drawing from a variety of sources she demonstrates that theatrical estrangement is not only an abstract theoretical postulate, but also a practical artistic strategy shaped by the cultural and historical climate.

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CHOICE Review

In this penetrating study, Jestrovic (Univ. of Warwick, UK) analyzes concepts of theatrical estrangement from what she identifies as the era of its modern birth in the Russian and German avant-garde theater (1910-35) to the present, emphasizing socio-political contexts. Centrally concerned with the ways in which the border between reality and artifice have blurred since the dawn of the information age, the author draws on a range of modern and postmodern forms--from the stage and cinema to the fine arts, political spectacle, and biography--to illuminate the evolution of theatrical estrangement from its earliest formulations in critical thought (Aristotle, Horace) to its first modern manifestations (Hegel, Freud). Emphasizing the plays and theories of Brecht, she examines modes of defamiliarization in the context of the familiar terrain of 20th-century drama, in which estrangement emerges as more than a theory. Indeed, Jestrovic (herself a playwright) articulates estrangement as an artistic strategy meant to reinvigorate live theater in its opposition to ways in which technological art has become increasingly real. By making the familiar images of life strange, estrangement can, Jestrovic convincingly posits, provide a means to enliven and reconceive the critical perception of reality. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through faculty. J. Fisher Wabash College