This thesis explores the profound influence of twentieth-century philosophy, and in particular the writings of phenomenologist Jan Patočka, on Wajdi Mouawad. While Mouawad's literary and dramatic sources have been widely discussed in recent scholarship, his philosophical sources have remained under-explored. Seeking to rectify this critical lacuna, the thesis addresses the key concepts Mouawad draws from the writings of Patočka including the central role of 'trace'. Through its investigation of Mouawad's engagement with Patočka, this thesis delineates Mouawad's philosophical and ethical aims. The thesis first considers the multiplicity of self in Mouawad's work, and its relationship to Patočka's 'shakenness' and 'care for the soul'. Chapter 1 investigates how an internal confrontation provoked by trace leads to a search for meaning as 'the soul discovers itself'. It analyses Mouawad's first play, Willy Protagoras enfermé dans les toilettes, and the more recent Seuls, to address the evolution of Mouawad's notion of self. Chapter 2 explores the significance of temporal awareness and time, as Patočka's three movements of human existence drive Mouawad's protagonists in their experience of shakenness. The plays discussed are Littoral, in which Mouawad first essayed non-linear time structures, and Incendies, which utilises a complex temporal oscillation. Chapter 3 turns to space as what arises through the individual's relationship to the world, focusing on Forêts and Ciels, two of Mouawad's most spatially complex productions. Chapter 4 examines two of Mouawad's recent plays, Temps and Sœurs, in its investigation of the role of testimony in developing the solidarity that emerges through the encounter with the other. The thesis then concludes with a discussion of how, and to what extent, Mouawad tackles his ambitions, particularly in their relation to trace.

A repetição, diria David Hume, nada muda no objeto que se repete em si, mas altera algo no espírito que o contempla: ela desencadeia uma diferença de percepção naquele que observa. Os textos do dramaturgo francês Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957-1995) são marcados pelo retorno sistemático de palavras, frases, expressões, personagens e temas, a ponto de a crítica recente que se articula em torno dele ver nessa característica uma espécie de ethos lagarciano. A análise pormenorizada de dois textos do autor Carthage, encore (escrito no início de sua carreira) e Jétais dans ma maison et j\'attendais que la pluie vienne (no fim de sua vida) revela um aspecto interessante: neles a repetição parece funcionar como uma agulha, tecendo a obra, desencadeando uma outra percepção da temporalidade na qual passado, presente e futuro vão gradativamente diluindo-se, condensando-se: suspende-se a apreensão da passagem do tempo e, simultaneamente, abre-se uma brecha na eternidade. O presente trabalho propõe-se a entender o uso da repetição nestes dois textos percebendo-a como um elemento performativo (de acordo com os trabalhos sobre teatro performativo realizados por Josette Féral, e sobre performance, de Paul Zumthor e Renato Cohen), isto é, cujo emprego numa sentença cria uma força ilocucionária capaz de produzir um efeito de suspensão temporal, alterando a percepção do público (leitor ou espectador). / Repetition, according to David Hume, changes nothing in the object that is repeated, but modifies something in the spirit which beholds it: it unleashes a difference in perception in the observer. The texts of the French playwright Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957-1995) are marked by the systematic return of words, phrases, expressions, characters and themes, to the point that the recent criticism that revolves around him sees in this characteristic a kind of Lagarcian ethos. The detailed analysis of two texts of the author - Carthage, encore (written in the beginning of his career) and Jétais dans ma maison et jattendais que la pluie vienne (in the end of his life) reveals an interesting aspect: in them repetition works as a needle, weaving his work, unleashing another perception of the passing of time, in which past, present and future gradually thin out, becoming compact: the apprehension of the passing of time is suspended and, simultaneously, a gap to eternity is open. The present paper proposes to understand the use of repetition in these two texts as a performative element, that is, whose use in a sentence creates an illocutionary strength able to produce an effect of time suspension, modifying the perception of the public (reader or spectator).

A repetição, diria David Hume, nada muda no objeto que se repete em si, mas altera algo no espírito que o contempla: ela desencadeia uma diferença de percepção naquele que observa. Os textos do dramaturgo francês Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957-1995) são marcados pelo retorno sistemático de palavras, frases, expressões, personagens e temas, a ponto de a crítica recente que se articula em torno dele ver nessa característica uma espécie de ethos lagarciano. A análise pormenorizada de dois textos do autor Carthage, encore (escrito no início de sua carreira) e Jétais dans ma maison et j\'attendais que la pluie vienne (no fim de sua vida) revela um aspecto interessante: neles a repetição parece funcionar como uma agulha, tecendo a obra, desencadeando uma outra percepção da temporalidade na qual passado, presente e futuro vão gradativamente diluindo-se, condensando-se: suspende-se a apreensão da passagem do tempo e, simultaneamente, abre-se uma brecha na eternidade. O presente trabalho propõe-se a entender o uso da repetição nestes dois textos percebendo-a como um elemento performativo (de acordo com os trabalhos sobre teatro performativo realizados por Josette Féral, e sobre performance, de Paul Zumthor e Renato Cohen), isto é, cujo emprego numa sentença cria uma força ilocucionária capaz de produzir um efeito de suspensão temporal, alterando a percepção do público (leitor ou espectador). / Repetition, according to David Hume, changes nothing in the object that is repeated, but modifies something in the spirit which beholds it: it unleashes a difference in perception in the observer. The texts of the French playwright Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957-1995) are marked by the systematic return of words, phrases, expressions, characters and themes, to the point that the recent criticism that revolves around him sees in this characteristic a kind of Lagarcian ethos. The detailed analysis of two texts of the author - Carthage, encore (written in the beginning of his career) and Jétais dans ma maison et jattendais que la pluie vienne (in the end of his life) reveals an interesting aspect: in them repetition works as a needle, weaving his work, unleashing another perception of the passing of time, in which past, present and future gradually thin out, becoming compact: the apprehension of the passing of time is suspended and, simultaneously, a gap to eternity is open. The present paper proposes to understand the use of repetition in these two texts as a performative element, that is, whose use in a sentence creates an illocutionary strength able to produce an effect of time suspension, modifying the perception of the public (reader or spectator).