Drama

Question 1

For what is dramatic text written?

Answer 1

As a script for a theater performance, not primarily to be read. They are to be performed as plays.

Question 2

What is the most appropriate mode of reception for drama?

Answer 2

Watching a play/a drama performed on stage.

Question 3

How can we describe theater perfomance?

Answer 3

• multimedial form of presentation
• wide repertoire of verbal and non-verbal signs and codes
• variety of communication channels.

Question 4

What is analyzed in literary studies when regarding to drama?

Answer 4

• text vs. perfomance
• script with primary and secondary text (= stage directions)
• tension between written and performed text

Question 5

How can the structure of dramatic text & performance be described as opposed to narrative text?

Answer 5

• “absolute nature of dramatic texts” (= no narrator)
• speech of characters/no inner thoughts (monologue/soliloquy is used for this sometimes)
• interpersonal (dialogue form)
• presentness (you are present as the speech is delivered on stage)
• auditorium = 4th Wall of a closed space
• plurimedial: synaesthetic text (seeing, hearing, smelling)/non-verbal codes
• collective and ephemeral process (no perfomance is like the one before)

Question 6

Describe the communication model for dramatic texts!

Answer 6

• internal communication system between fictional characters
• no mediating communication system (fictional narrator) which is compensated by non-verbal communication, visuals and internal communication (soliloquy)
• presence of a fictional addressee, implied author and implied receiver, and empirical author and actual reader

Question 7

What is the aim of dramatic speech?

Answer 7

• to communicate information about past (exposition) and future events
• to introduce characters and setting or perform actions

Question 8

Characteristics of a monologue

Answer 8

• character speaks alone but in the explicit presence of others
• can express inner thoughts -> high degree of subjectivity

Question 9

Soliloquy

Answer 9

the person delivering a monologue is alone (or regardless of any hearers) on stage

Question 10

Aside

Answer 10

• speech directed at the audience or other characters but concealed from other characters on stage
• result is often dramatic irony: discrepant awareness between the recipient and a character (insight into the character’s misjudgements)
• monological aside, dialogical aside & aside ad spectatores

Question 11

Dialogue

Answer 11

• line by line exchange
• report by messsenger (recount events that happened before)
• teichoscopy (viewing from the walls) = reporting something that is happening off-stage simultaneously but cannot be seen by audience

Question 12

Classical unities/three unities

Answer 12

• unity of action = a play should have one main action that it follows, with no or few subplots
• unity of place = a play should cover a single physical space and should not attempt to compress geography, nor should the stage represent more than one place.
• unity of time = the action in a play should take place over no more than 24 hours

Question 13

catharsis

Answer 13

• effect of purgation or purification achieved by tragic drama
• brings relief to the audience after witnessing the disturbing events enacted in tragedies

Question 13

Dramatic Arc

Answer 13

1. Exposition: inciting moment
2. Rising action or complication
3. Climax: turning point
4. Falling action or reversal: moment of final suspense
5. Dénouement (comedy) or catastrophe (tragedy)

BUT: 20th century dramatics challenge/change these conventions; open forms no longer rely on classical unities or dramatic arcs

Question 13

tragedy

Answer 13

• imitation of a serious heroic and complete action
• protagonist’s fortune turns from good to bad
• action incited pity and fear, we empathize with the suffering hero(ine) and their recognition of their mistake/guilt
• this was to induce catharsis
• domestic tragedy replaces nobelmen with middle-class characters and private life to bring a moral message closer to the middle-class audience

Question 14

comedy

Answer 14

• stages ordinary people in the middle or lower classes as flat types with stereotypical forms of behavior
• characters reveal shortcomings, make mistakes, violate rules and are frustrated by failure
• action is usually marked by stock elements, such as mistaken identities, surprising turns and revelations
• in general, poetic justice prevails in the end

Question 15

dramatis personnae

Answer 15

refers to all of the literary characters who appear in a play, mostly listed at the beginning of a play

Question 16

character constellation

Answer 16

• graphic representation of the characters’ relationships to each other
• used to describe the dynamic structure of the dramatis personnae
• includes sources of impending conflict

Question 17

character configuration

Answer 17

• entrance or exit of one or several characters
• which characters are on stage together/alone and how often
• reveals how important a single character is in a play

Question 18

character perspective

Answer 18

• the individual, more or less restricted view of reality of every character
• determined by three major factors:
  
  1. the character’s level of knowledge
  2. the character’s psychological disposition
  3. the character’s ideological persuasions (values and norms)

Question 19

round character

Answer 19

• multidimendional, complex character comparable to a human being, personal indivduality and uniqueness

Question 20

flat character

Answer 20

stereotypical, few specific human characteristics and individual features
e.g. psychological type (embodies a particular mode of human behavior) or social type (based on a particular profession or social class)

Question 21

Techniques of characterisation

Answer 21

• figural vs. authorial
• explicit vs. implicit
• self-commentary vs. commentary by others
• mode of speech (dialogue/soliloquy)
• verbal vs. non-verbal

Question 22

Open-Air stage forms

Answer 22

• ancient greece: amphitheater in a semicircle
• middle ages: pageants (Bühnenwagen)
• renaissance: apron stage

Question 23

Indoor stage forms

Answer 23

- picture frame stage: invisble 4th wall - theater in the round - thrust stage - traverse

Question 24

What characterizes a theater performance?

Answer 24

- engages audience physically, intellectually, emotionally, individually and collectively - theater needs an audience - success or failure of a performance might be measured by the degree it reimagines the text within its historical context

Question 25

Name other theater forms!

Answer 25

- alienation effect by Brecht: actor can stand outside the character --> epic theater: montage rather than stringent plot - theater of the absurd by Samuel Becket: projects irrationalism, helplessness and absurdity of life in dramatic forms that reject realistic setting, logical reasoning or a coherently evolving plot

Question 26

Which theater codes and sign systems can be present in plays?

Answer 26

actor: 1. acoustic - individual vocal characteristics (d) - pitch (nd) - voice-quality (d) - utterances (nd) 2. visual - appearance (d): stature, physiognomy, costume, makeup - body language (nd): facial expression, movement, gesture stage: 1. acoustic - loudspeaker (nd) - noise (nd) - music (nd) 2. visual - stage-set (d) - props (nd) - lighting (nd) - placards (nd) d = durative nd = nondurative

Question 27

Which basic conceptions shape the construction of characters

Answer 27

personification, type or individual: - flat our round (simple types or individuals) - static or dynamic (unchanging or developing)

Question 28

In which way does the author inform us about characters?

Answer 28

authorial information: - general constellation of characters (dramatis personnae: hierarchy of race, class, gender?) - coresspondences and contrasts - explicit descriptions in secondary text, telling names - dramatic pairing: protagonist and antagonist, foil, confidant(e) - settings characters are associated with (overlaps with space)

Question 29

In which way does the figural information help us with characterization?

Answer 29

- explicit characterization of selves and others in speech - implicit characterization - the manner and timing of entrances and exits - external appearance: stature, physiognomy, costume, mask and hair - body language: facial expression, gesture, choreographic grouping and movement - characteristic vocal quality, pitch, volume, stylistic features - delivery of speeches, varying according to pace, rhythm, intonation

Question 30

In which way does acting inform us about the characters?

Answer 30

- Do words agree with acts, support acts or differ from acts? - Do actors impersonate characters or display characters with role distance?

Question 31

Name and describe three types of comedy!

Answer 31

- Romantic comedy: humor, entertainment, lovers who are able to overcome obstacles -> reconciliation, happy ending - satiric comedy: individual flaws and social vices, moral message: poetic justice instead of reconciliation - comedy of manners: celebrates sophisticated taste and manners, battles of wit and the sexes and worldy pleasures instead of naivety, sobriety and hypocrisy

Question 32

What is a tragicomedy?

Answer 32

combination of serious conflicts or topics with light-hearted elements