No description available.

This dissertation interprets Brecht's Mutter Courage through its protagonist. Most interpreters have derived Courage's meaning from only one term of the contradiction of merchant and mother that constitutes her, either blaming the inhuman, war-mongering merchant for her participation in war, or defending the vital, productive, and nurturing mother for that same (unavoidable) participation. Some have stressed instead the unity formed by Courage's contradiction, without being able to elucidate its meaning. The present interpretation, proceeding from a clue given in scene 7 to the meaning of the text, draws parallels between the drama and Brecht's view of the world, and shows that the world of Mutter Courage is the symbolic representation of capitalism as Brecht knew it during the rise of fascism and the approach of the Second World War. Courage is then shown to be a concentrated form of this symbolic representation; indeed, she turns out to be a representation of capitalism in its "totality". This representation is inseparable from the invocation, through Courage, of the Great Mother archetype. The Great Mother describes a contradictory capitalism that is both a Good Mother in its promising productivity, and a Terrible Mother in its destructive warring and oppression; but she, as the symbol of Nature, also describes a capitalism that had begun to seem even to Brecht like a second Nature. Courage also represents the totality of capitalism (as the Marxist Brecht saw it) by embodying both its "affirmative" aspect (as a merchant who engenders soldiering sons), and (undermining the archetype of the Great Mother) its "critical" aspect as the representation of the resistance of the oppressed to their warring world (as the outlaw who engenders a daughter who rebels against war). The meaning of the drama, then, is the story of Courage as the incarnation of the dialectic of capitalism, a dark tale whose conditions seem eternal, but which contains the promise of something bet

No description available.

No description available.

This study presents an examination of the theory of alienation which is found in the dramatic work of Bertolt Brecht, the German writer and producer. A historical survey is followed by an attempt to describe the presence of the same phenomenon in the text of two plays by Brecht, Mutter Courage and Der kaukasiche Kreiderkreis. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

De quelle façon peut-on actualiser et mettre en scène une pièce de Brecht en considérant la relation aux spectateurs comme étant le point central de la démarche esthétique? Telle est notre question préalable. Cela implique de considérer le spectateur, du moins d'en intégrer une certaine conscience, dans le processus créatif qui mène à la représentation. La clarification des stratégies d'échange entre la scène et la salle a orienté nos recherches. D'abord, d'un point de vue sociologique, en prenant le parti que les spectateurs sont plus largement définis par tout ce qui est avant et après la représentation que par la centaine de minutes où ils sont assis dans la salle. Ensuite, par la voix des artisans du spectacle qui portent un regard de l'intérieur sur la relation scène-salle. Et finalement, dans une optique plus large qui englobe les deux précédents aspects et qui tient compte des modes communicationnels de notre époque et ce, en relation avec l'œuvre brechtienne. Nous soutenons ce travail de création en appuyant notre réflexion critique sur les écrits de Pierre Bourdieu et d'Emmanuel Éthis en sociologie, sur ceux de Régis Debray, Jacques Rancière et Guy Debord pour leur réflexion sur l'art, de Hans-Thies Lehmann et Jean-Pierre Sarrazac pour leurs travaux directement reliés à la pratique théâtrale et à l'art d'être spectateur et plus particulièrement à la proposition d'Yves Thoret qui, à travers la notion de spectature, définit la participation du spectateur à la représentation. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : spectateur, communication, spectature, distanciation, actualisation

This thesis examines the theoretical foundations of Brecht's and Sartre's "dialectical" theatre. Proceeding first from their most significant theoretical writings, it then studies representative plays--Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder and Les Mains sales--in an attempt to make explicit the relationship between theory and artistic practice. The textual analysis proper develops certain aspects of theme, structure and reception which in turn reveal meaningful differences and contradictions. Sartre's "dramatic" theatre in fact evidences a sort of ideological creativity whereas Brecht's "epic" theatre presents a more primordial artistic creativity. Therefore, though the concept of dialectical theatre (essentially political and/or historic) is a common thought-structure to both dramatists, its actualization differs. I will argue that Sartre's work shows a view of the art process as ideologically predetermined and almost ineluctable. Brecht's more primordial work, on the other hand, shows process as a creative anagnorisis, more immediate and archetypal. In the last chapter, I will give an overview of the changes in consciousness produced by these approaches of "dialectical" theatre and substantiate these by criticism that has dealt with the subject.

No description available.

This study analyses five British translations of Bertolt Brecht's 'Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder'. Two of these translations were written by speakers of German, and three by well-known British playwrights with no knowledge of the source text language. Four have been produced in mainstream British theatres in the past twenty-five years. The study applies translation studies methodology to a textual analysis which focuses on the translation of techniques of linguistic "Verfremdung", as well as linguistic expression of the comedy and of the political dimension in the work. It thus closes the gap in current Brecht research in examining the importance of his idiosyncratic use of language to the translation and reception of his work in the UK. The study assesses the ways in which the translator and director are influenced by Brecht's legacy in the UK and in turn, what image of Brecht they mediate through the production on stage. To this end, the study throws light on the formation of Brecht's problematic reputation in the UK, and it also highlights the social and political circumstances in early twentieth century Germany which prompted Brecht to develop his theory of an epic theatre. The focus on a linguistic examination allows the translator's contribution to the production process to be isolated. Together with an investigation of the reception of each performance text, this in turn facilitates a more accurate assessment of the translator and director's respective influence in the process of transforming a foreign-language text onto a local stage. The analysis also sheds light on the different approaches taken by speakers of German, and playwrights creating an English version from a literal translation. It pinpoints losses in translation and adaptation, and suggests how future versions may avoid these.

No description available.