Tragödie und Dramatisches Theater

by Hans-Thies Lehmann

Was ist »tragische Erfahrung« im Theater?Anknüpfend an seine früheren Studien zur antiken Tragödie – "Theater und Mythos" – und an sein in 19 Sprachen übersetztes Standardwerk "Postdramatisches Theater" entwirft Hans-Thies Lehmann, einer der bedeutendsten Theatertheoretiker Deutschlands, in seinem neuen Buch eine Theorie der Tragödie, die sich in Europa von der Antike bis in die postdramatische Gegenwart entwickelte. Dabei wird das Konzept der tragischen Erfahrung als einer strikt an Theatererfahrung gebundenen erläutert. Im Zentrum steht die neuzeitliche Tragödie seit der Renaissance und die Frage nach der Gegenwärtigkeit der Tragödie. »Was genau ist (oder war) das ›Dramatische‹ am dramatischen Theater? Was kann Tragödie und das Tragische bedeuten, wenn man zwischen prädramatisch, dramatisch und postdramatisch organisierten Formen von Theatralität klar unterscheidet?« Hans-Thies Lehmann »Hans-Thies Lehmann ist ein Theaterwissenschaftler, der viel gesehen hat; einer, der seine Überlegungen aus der konkreten sinnlich-ästhetischen Anschauung entwickelt und seine ästhetische Erfahrung zum Profil einer Theaterwissenschaft erklärt. Das ist gut und leider viel zu selten.« Jörg Wiesel, "Mykenae"

Genres: Theatre

736 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2013

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is undeniably important for any scholar of tragedy. It is an enormous scholarly edifice, and has very sensible things to say about tragedy in the contemporary theatre. But it is also flawed. The author spends hundreds of pages summarising critical theory, and accordingly never develops his own clear terminology in which to express his ideas. He simply excludes discussion of tragic fiction or cinema. He argues that previous books on tragedy have not paid enough attention to staging or performance, and then proceeds to spend about 10 of his 450 pages talking about staging and performance.

That said, Lehmann's overall theory of tragedy is interesting, because he gives a new view of its evolution. His distinction between "predramatic," "dramatic" and "postdramatic" theatre is powerful. His notion that Aeschylus and Sophocles are "predramatic" helps him to interpret their plays insightfully, and I agree with him that his interpretation of them is superior to Hegel's. His notion that tragedy is essentially about "transgression" is also powerful. This is in all essentials the theory of Nietzsche, but of course Nietzsche was not in a position to apply his ideas to twentieth-century theatre, as Lehman does.

If this book were 200 pages long, and included more analysis of the language and staging of his examples, it would have been a 5/5. As it stands, Lehmann's study will have to be an inspiration for the next great book on tragedy, rather than the book itself.