The Political Involvement of Myth in Its Stage Adapatations

Autor

  • Małgorzata Budzowska Uniwersytet Łódzki, Katedra Filologii Klasycznej, Zakład Hellenistyki i Religioznawstwa, 90-236 Łódź, ul. Pomorska 171/173
  • Jadwiga Czerwińska Uniwersytet Łódzki, Instytut Romanistyki, Zakład Italianistyki, 90-236 Łódź, ul. Pomorska 171/173

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.19.05

Słowa kluczowe:

mythe antique, tragedie grécque, postmodernisme, théâtre

Abstrakt

Ancient myths from the Mediterranean Culture often become a language used to express current social and political anxieties. In the contemporary theatre ancient myths are deconstructed and subverted according to the postmodern dialogue with tradition. Aesthetic changes are accompanied by the ideological modifications. This obviously crisis position of myth is associated with the method of de-contextualization when a mythical plot or just a mythical character is involved in the (post)modern political background. This paper is to analyse three theatre productions from Polish theatre (Iphigenia by Antonina Grzegorzewska, 2008; Oresteia by Michał Zadara, 2010; Antigone by Marcin Liber, 2013) which adapt the most political ancient myths of Atreides and Labdacides’ families. Authors will present the ancient literary context of these myths (Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus) and compare it with the contemporary stage adaptations. Political issues which will be discussed concern 1) global terrorism threat; 2) communism; 3) political usage of dead heroes and enemies – post-memory; 4) wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; 5) Nazi genocide; 6) media management of death. All these current problems constitute a deconstructed background for ancient myths and authors will consider whether this procedure creates an empty mythical mask for performance or, conversely, it enriches a source meaning of ancient myth.

Biogramy autorów

Małgorzata Budzowska - Uniwersytet Łódzki, Katedra Filologii Klasycznej, Zakład Hellenistyki i Religioznawstwa, 90-236 Łódź, ul. Pomorska 171/173

Assistant Professor at Classics Faculty, University of Lodz in Poland. She was awarded her PhD by the University of Lodz, Classics Faculty and MA by the Institute of Contemporary Culture (theatre and drama theory) at the same university. Her book Phaedra – Ethics of Emotions in the tragedies of Euripides, Seneca and Racine (Peter Lang 2012) considers intertextual correlations between three plays which adapted the myth of Phaedra in relation to the theory of unrestraint (akrasia) by Aristotle. She is co-editor of the volume Ancient Myths in the Making of Culture (Peter Lang 2014). Currently she is involved in two research projects: Reception of ancient myths of Mediterranean Culture in Polish theatre of XXI century and Ancient drama and theatre in the works of scholiasts, both funded by the National Science Centre in Poland.

Jadwiga Czerwińska - Uniwersytet Łódzki, Instytut Romanistyki, Zakład Italianistyki, 90-236 Łódź, ul. Pomorska 171/173

Full Professor at the University of Lodz, the chief editor of Collectanea Philologica, a member of The Committee on Ancient Culture of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), The Classical Association, The Center Latinitatis Europae, The Scientific Commitee of Łódź (ŁTN), The Scientific Committe at KUL (Catholic University of Lublin), The Polish Philological Committee (PTF), the scholar of Fondation Hardt pour L`Etude de L`Antiquité Classique, Vandoeuvres-Genève and The Lanckorońscy Foundation. Interested in Greek theatre and drama (mainly Euripides), Greek philosophy and the reception of Antiquity in Italian culture. The author of many articles, including Polish and Italian monographs about the works of Euripides. For her achievements she was awarded, inter alia, with the medal of The Commission of National Education and many others. She was also prized by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

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Opublikowane

2016-12-30

Jak cytować

Budzowska, M., & Czerwińska, J. (2016). The Political Involvement of Myth in Its Stage Adapatations. Collectanea Philologica, (19), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-0319.19.05

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