This research examines the movement of the 1960's to develop a genuine Egyptian theatre which would be recognized on the international level; this movement is herein termed the "movement to Egyptian theatre." The title itself points up the dependency, since its inception in the late nineteenth century, of the Egyptian theatre on Western models. / This thesis argues that the movement could not bring a divorce from Western influences, that the movement instead represented a new phase in the apprenticeship of Egyptian theatre wherein the playwrights departed from realism and turned to the different types of the avant-garde drama of the post-World War II era, which are here termed "metatheatre." / The core of this argument is that it was not possible for Egyptian playwrights to satisfy the long quest for a national theatre rooted in Egypt's indigenous theatrical practices because these practices were rudimentary and formless, and were in fact parallels to forms from different eras of Western theatre which had already been used by contemporary Western metadramatists as sources for structural elements and technical and theatrical devices. / This study includes, in addition to the historical background and survey of the different stages of the movement, a study of selected literature of the movement: three theoretical documents and eleven plays. Also, a detailed analysis of the concept of metatheatre is presented--in justification of the use of this term to label the major school which displaced realism as the major trend of contemporary Western drama. / Although I conclude that in its purpose to develop a truly Egyptian drama the movement failed, it is credited with (1) promoting the assimilation rather than the imitation of the Western theatrical model, (2) initiating the use of folkloric themes and old theatrical forms--which may not have created a new form, but certainly added native flavor to the plays of the movement, (3) exploring new ground and introducing the self-conscious dramatic form to Egyptian theatre, and (4) promoting the concept of "spectacle." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, Section: A, page: 0022. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1985.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75736 |
| Contributors | METAWIE, HANI A., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 361 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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