Drawing on Debord and Baudrillard, this thesis takes its starting point the shift from text to image dominated representations of the world. It argues the parallel shifts in theatre practice and reception away from work which subordinates itself to textual narrative and towards theatre with foreground the non-textual theatrical elements is becoming more defined in Britain. Within there is a concern with the relationship between narrative, the spectacle and disruptive modes of engagement, drawing out in each chapter a different aspect of the implications for creating and engaging with theatre where the spectacle of society is ubiquitous. The introductory chapter will first outline how narrative can be defined and discuss the significance of experience of reality through spectacular representation looking at how the notion of the spectator and the experience of engagement with theatre have changed, then the following six chapters will address the relationship between the spectacle and virtuosity in performance; the implications for politics of identity and for resistance to the spectacle; the experience of immersion through participation in spectacular performance; and distance through engagement with ironic spectacle, before in the final chapter, addressing theatre which constructs itself as international through multilingualism and new media technology. Each chapter focuses on one or two practitioners examining one of their performances in detail in relation to one of the areas outlined above. This analysis will be based on my own experience as a spectator, research into the companies, their reception in the media and academic writing, and where possible through interviews with members of the company.

The (re)discovery of collage by the Cubists and futurists was one of the most significant artistic developments of the last century. Collage practice was embraced by artists and intellectuals as more than a formal process involving the combination of image fragments using glue. From Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, through the Dadaists, the surrealists, and on into the era of post-modernity, collage has become a metaphysical expression of a world in flux, characterised by relativity and uncertainty. Often working in close personal contact with the avant-garde artists, theatre director Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was intimately involved with the political, social and cultural upheavals of the early twentieth century. This thesis argues that Meyerhold's work with the artists of the avant-garde has been under-investigated in English language scholarship, and that the influence of artistic developments on his aesthetic extends beyond the well-documented instances of causal cross-over (for example, in stage design). Seeing the lack of scholarship relating Meyerhold's work directly to the collage device as an oversight, this thesis constructs a collage-based model through which the director's theatre can be read. Collage in Meyerhold's theatre is initially identified in the construction of the mise-en- scene. By 1926, the device emerges as the organizational principle underlying the performance as a whole, shedding light on the form and function of the director's aesthetic. Particularly significantly, through collage, Meyerhold's theatre is seen to engage with the questions of subjectivity and objectivity in the audience experience, and, in line with anti-positivist developments in philosophy, radically deconstructs the objective as a category. In addition, through collage, Meyerhold's theatre finds vital points of contact with today's performance practice which often engages with the multiplication of spatial and temporal frameworks through the use of multi-media techniques.

The purpose of this study is to explore how Omani children's drama, in schools and theatres and T.V. can be developed and enriched to become a useful educational tool for the nation's development, while also meeting children's cognitive and emotional needs. In order to do so, the origins and development of Arab and Omani theatre and T.V. are traced, the goals of the Omani development strategy and the expected roles of theatre and T.V. are discussed, and examples of good practice from the Arab world and the West are considered. The work is qualitative in nature, depending largly on writings on drama, on the researcher's extensive experience in television and theatre production and direction, and on visits to observe children's theatre in the U.K., United States, and Arab Gulf States. In addition, a small survey was carried out among Omani teachers to explore their perceptions of the role and practice of drama in schools, and a seminar was held in which various experts came together to discuss issues in Children's Drama and Theatre and to identify obstacles. As a practical experiment a play, Titi and Toti, was directed and produced by researcher to demonstrate the feasibility and value of developing theatre for children in Oman. It is shown that drama in Oman is in the early stages of development and is dominated by television. Children's theatre as a distinct form hardly exists at all. Obstacles include lack of resources, inadequate training, and conservative social atitueds [i.e. attitudes] which associate drama with pagan superstition, time-wasting, and alien cultural values. Nevertheless, a few successful experiments suggest that useful Western models such as Theatre in Education can be reconciled with elements of Oman's rich cultural heritage, to produce works for children that are entertaining, informative, and consistent with local values. Recommendations are made for the development of Omani children's theatre and drama in line with the nation's overall cultural strategy.

This study focuses on the relationship between myth in its classical and modern definition and the theatre, and how the developing Omani theatre can Benefit from western and Arabian experiences in this field. The study shows how myths, around the world, were the first attempt by human beings to think, explain, justify and produce concepts and images. They were the basis on which the first drama was established, and have continued to be a major source of inspiration. The study then explores various modern explanations of myth from the mid nineteenth century, in which myths were classified into various categories and attempts made to study each in isolation. It then illustrates how myths were subsequently studied by anthropologists and psychologists, as manifestations of the individual or collective conscious or unconscious realm, which confirms that myths, despite their outwardly illogical element, carry not fact itself but the essence of the fact. The author clarifies the definition and concept of myth in Islamic and Arabic culture, the meaning of the word in the Holy Quran and the attitude of Islamic and Arab scholars towards it. Consideration is also given to the explanations by modern Arab scholars for the ancient Arabs' lack of concern with myths, in contrast to the cultures of their neighbours. The study sheds light on how the modem mythological, sociological, anthropological, theological and psychological explanations of myth are employed in contemporary theatre and how they have influenced performance and critical theories such as those of Artaud and Archetypal Criticism. It is noted that such theories played an essential role in a number of modern theatrical movements, and consequently concluded that those theories might usefully be applied in developing countries like Oman. Particular attention is given to the theatre in Oman, asserting the importance of its interaction with international theatre at both theoretical and practical levels, especially with those countries, which have strong theatrical traditions. Nevertheless, alongside this is emphasised the importance of employing indigenous sources of heritage and knowledge, such as myths. The study elucidates the role of myths in Oman's culture, in light of historical and geographical factors. It describes how mythology became an integral part of people's lives as a way of thinking about, imagining and explaining different events or phenomena in their lives. It is concluded that theatre should be aware of this fact, and deal with it. This does not mean uncritically accepting superstitions and regressive thinking, which could be harmful, but saving the popular heritage and employing it in such a way that people recognize its advantages and disadvantages, as modern mythological studies suggest, in order to build a close relationship between the theatre and its audience, and to provide the society with new and wider intellectual and aesthetic understanding of their existing myths, for the Benefit of both theatre and society.

This thesis investigates the translation of Hamlet into Hungarian culture. In order to cover as wide a spectrum of translation as possible, the thesis employs Roman Jakobson's tripartite notion of translation: interlingual, intralingual and intersemiotic transfer. However, the thesis also challenges Jakobson's categories, especially with regard to the considerable degree of overlap that occurs. The first part of the thesis focuses on what is traditionally termed translation - translation 'proper' or interlingual translation. Nevertheless, in the context of the Hungarian Hamlets intralingual translation is also involved due to the central status of Janos Arany's 1867 translation. This translation influences the work of later translators, whether they approach the sacred text with the attitude of discipleship (that is to say, with reverence for Arany and with the intention of imitating or learning from Arany) or, less frequently, with the attitude of mastery (claiming equal or greater expertise). This process, which can be described as a Bloomian coming-to-terms with the father figure, is apparent when one looks at how famous Shakespearean-Aranyean fragments of Hamlet are 'retranslated' by subsequent translators. Apart from examples of the fragmentary afterlife of Arany's Hamlet, critical discourse also displays a certain taboo surrounding Arany's Hamlet. The second part of the thesis deals with interserniotic translation, providing a detailed case study of the 2003 Pécs performance based on a contemporary translation by Ádám Nádasdy. This instance of translation involves the transposition of a purely verbal text onto an art form that is not exclusively verbal. The third part of the thesis engages in the discussion of a spectrum of rewrites (or, in Jakobson's term, 'rewording') and follows a genre-based division: Hamletian ramifications in drama, fiction and poetry. The examination of these three interrelated areas of translation activity prompts the critic to envisage a complex Hungarian Hamlet palimpsest woven in the spirit of making Shakespeare and Hamlet 'our own'.

[From the introduction]: Roberto Arlt is generally considered by critics the forerunner of the Latin American "boom". Arlt's innovative style reflects a fascination with the popular and a trenchant social realism fused with fantasy; his oeuvre is considered to have paved the way for later Latin American magic realism. Though distinguished names such as Jorge Luis Borges and Julio Cortazar praised his work, still, Arlt has long been considered by lesser figures a marginal voice, a tragicomic commentator on life, an autodidact and journalist, a writer who could not even spell. Only fairly recently has his place in the Argentine canon been granted; elsewhere, Arltian scholars and critics regard Arlt's work as an incisive portrait of its epoch, a much deserved milestone that secured the author a literary place that his contemporaries tried to deny him.

Thesis--Dacca University. / Bibliography: p. [3]-4 (last group).

Inaug.-Diss.--Halle-Wittenberg. / "Literaturverzeichnis": p. 117-119.

Thèse--Universit́e de Paris. / At head of title: Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Paris. "Bibliographie": p. [165]-167.

Thesis (M.A.)--Guo li zheng zhi da xue. / Reprint from typescript copy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-100).