This essay examines how the meaning of an absurd play may be affected by how the reader understands the text. To address this problem I have turned to Wolfgang Isers theory of reception. Primarily I have taken on that the creation of meaning comes about when the reader fills in blanks in the text. I have also used Martin Esslins work on the theater of the absurd. I have mainly studied his research on Harold Pinter. Based on these two theories I have suggested a interpretation model that focuses on the interaction between reader and text. The interpretation model contains how the reader analyses blanks through observing the wandering view alternatively understanding the implied reader. The interpretation model also discusses how the reader can fill in blanks by using the relationship between character and environment, the final junction, turning points and uncertainties. I tested this interpretation model on Harold Pinters play A kind of Alaska. In my ideation of the play I realized it was about the loneliness of ageing and changing. I used these results to evaluate the usefulness of the interpretation model. / Denna uppsats undersöker hur läsarens uppfattning av en absurdistisk pjäs påverkar dess betydelse. För att angripa det här problemet har jag dels vänt mig till Wolfgang Isers receptions teori. Jag har främst tagit fasta på hur meningskapande sker när läsaren fyller i luckor i texten. Jag har även vänt mig till Martin Esslins forskning om den absurdistiska teatern. Där har jag främst studerat hans undersökning av Harold Pinters dramatik. Utifrån dess två teoretiska ingångar la jag fram ett förslag till en tolkningsmodell som utgår från läsarens interaktion med texten. Tolkningsmodellen innehåller bland annat hur man kan analysera luckor utifrån läsarens rörliga perspektiv alternativt utifrån en underförstådd läsare. Tolkningsmodellen tar också upp hur läsaren kan fylla i luckor genom att använda sig av karaktärens relation till rummet, knutpunkter, vändpunkter och osäkerheter. Jag har testat tolkningsmodellen på Harold Pinters pjäs A kind of Alaska. I min ideation av pjäsen kom jag fram till att den handlade om ensamheten i åldrande och förändring. Jag använde resultatet av analysen för att utvärdera tolkningsmodellens användbarhet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1965. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 231-252.

Este estudo tem como objetivo central propor uma leitura diferente para a peça The Homecoming, escrita por Harold Pinter. Desde sua estreia nos palcos ingleses, em 1965, a fortuna crítica da obra tende a partir de dois diferentes vieses para analisá-la: por um lado, parte da crítica enxerga a peça através das características do Teatro do Absurdo termo estabelecido por Martin Esslin para um grupo de peças do período pós-guerra europeu em seu livro The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) ; por outro, um grupo de críticos tenta definir a peça através dos conceitos da psicanálise freudiana enfocando o Complexo de Édipo. Nossa proposta de leitura para a peça contrapõe o texto teatral a seu momento sócio-histórico e cultural, tentando relacioná-los e indicar de que modo estes se influenciam mutuamente. Uma breve contextualização geral das obras de Harold Pinter e das características que a tornaram tão célebre, assim como um breve panorama do teatro inglês nas décadas de 1950 e 1960 iniciam nosso estudo para que a importância de Harold Pinter seja compreendida. A partir daí, o texto de The Homecoming será analisado tendo como ponto de partida a teorização de Peter Szondi (2001) acerca do drama burguês, do Teatro do Absurdo e do contraste com o momento sócio-histórico da Inglaterra na década de 1960. Por fim, um levantamento acerca da primeira montagem de The Homecoming no Brasil, traduzida como A Volta ao Lar em 1968, e de seu processo de censura durante a Ditadura Militar será fornecido, retomando a importância da obra para o teatro brasileiro e sua história. / This study proposes a different interpretation of Harold Pinters play, The Homecoming. It premiered in 1965 and most of the critical works on it usually tend to examine the play through two different biases: on one hand, some critics use the theory established by Martin Esslin in The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) where he evaluates a group of post-war European plays to analyze the play; on the other, different critics apply concepts from Freudian psychoanalysis especially the ones related to the called Oedipus complex to comprehend the play. Our proposed interpretation analyzes the dramatic text considering its socio-historical and cultural moment, relating such fields and identifying how they influence one another. A brief overview on Harold Pinters works and their celebrated characteristics, as well as a panorama on British drama in the 1950s and 1960s decades will open our study, so that Harold Pinters significance can be understood. Later, The Homecoming will be analyzed through the ideas of Peter Szondi (2001) on bourgeois drama, the concept of the Theatre of the Absurd and the relations between the text and the British socio-historical moment during the 1960s. Finally, a survey on the first Brazilian production of The Homecoming, translated as A Volta ao Lar in 1968, and on its censorship by Brazilian military dictatorship will be presented in order to stress the importance of the play to Brazilian theater\'s history.

by Wendy Wai Kui Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-131). / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 1 --- "Dominance and Destruction in The Room, A Slight Ache and A Night Out" --- p.5 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- "Married Love and Reality in The Collection, The Lover, Landscape and Betrayal" --- p.22 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- "The Human Connection and Its Limits in The Caretaker, The Homecoming and Family Voices" --- p.56 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- "The End Of The Road in One For The Road, Mountain Language and Party Time" --- p.85 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Love and Death Wedded in Moonlight --- p.110 / Conclusion --- p.122 / Works Cited --- p.124 / Bibliography --- p.127

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The particular characteristics of Pinter’s theatre such as the theme of violence, the competitive interpersonal relationships, the implied unwillingness in communication between the characters and the distinctive use of silences and pauses, distinguish his work from the writers of the absurd. Pinter makes particular use of “Silences” and “Pauses” as theatrical techniques that present a non-verbal way of communication in his plays. The frequent use of these particular techniques in Pinter’s dialogue has urged some critics to coin new expressions such as “Pinteresque” or “Pinter Pause” in the vocabulary of drama to specify Pinter’s technique. One of the important objectives in this essay is to point out the fundamental significance and function of the “Silences” and “Pauses” in Pinter’s work and point out their distinction. I will discuss how the silences and pauses function in Pinter’s theatre as a non-verbal way of communication by creating fragments in the dialogue.   The plays which will be analyzed in this essay are: The Room, The Dumb Waiter, The Birthday Party and The Caretaker. My objective in this essay is to explore the context of these plays with regards to the theme of menace. In the first chapter, I mainly aim to explore the menacing context of these plays regarding the structure of menace and the ways it takes place in each play separately. This analysis will be presented in relation to the spatial territory in which the characters are confined. My aim is also to describe why menace is presented in a theatrical sense. I have chosen to quote some significant passages of each play in each section to illustrate my purposes in the first chapter. The aim of the second chapter is to define the character types involved in the presentation of menace, “The Intruders” and “The Victims”, and to analyze the strategies their use in encounters with each other. After describing the character types I will explore in detail how “The Intruders” use linguistic strategies to confuse and subdue their victims and finally victimize them and how “The Victims” use strategies to cope with menace in order to survive. There are some passages quoted from the plays to facilitate the purpose of the second chapter. The objective in the third chapter is to define “Silences” and “Pauses” as theatrical techniques used in form of non-verbal communication between the characters. I will discuss, based on Peter Hall’s definition, how these techniques are significant in understanding a Pinter play for the readers and the actors who perform them on stage, and will further explore the function of “Silences” and “Pauses” and their distinction in the context of the plays in question in this essay.

2 v. ; 26 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of English, 1974

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed September 22, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-48)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-271). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 251-271). Also available on the Internet.