Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Post-Imperial Brecht challenges prevailing views of Brecht's theatre and politics. Kruger focuses much of her analysis in regions where Brecht has had special resonance, including East Germany, and South Africa, where Brechtian philosophy has been vigorously employed in the anti-apartheid movement. Kruger also analyses political interpretations of Brecht in light of other key dramatists, including Heiner Müller and Athol Fugard. The book also examines Brechtian influence on writers and philosophers such as Adorno, Benjamin, and Barthes.
Synopsis
Challenging prevailing views of Brecht's theater and politics, Loren Kruger focuses much of her analysis on regions where Brecht has had special resonance, including East Germany and South Africa. She also analyzes political interpretations of Brecht in light of other key dramatists, including Heiner MÜ ller and Athol Fugard, as well as Brechtian influence on writers and philosophers such as Adorno, Benjamin, and Barthes.
Synopsis
Post-Imperial Brecht challenges prevailing views of Brecht's theatre and politics. Loren Kruger focuses much of her analysis in regions of special resonance, including East Germany and South Africa. The book includes interpretations of Brecht in light of dramatists and writers, including Heiner Müller, Fugard, and Adorno.
About the Author
Loren Kruger is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and Cornell University, and teaches the history and theory of drama and other cultural forms at the University of Chicago. She is the author of The National Stage (1992) and The Drama of South Africa (1999), and the editor of Lights and Shadows: The Autobiography of Leontine Sagan (1996), and of South African special issues of Theatre Journal and Theatre Research International.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The political history of theatre and theory: Brecht and his contemporaries; 2. Realism, Socialism, and Modernism in the Production Play; 3. Broadcasting (A)Socialism: Brecht, Müller and Radio Fatzer; 4. Spectres and speculation: Brechtian futures on the Global market; 5. The dis-illusion of Apartheid: Brecht in South Africa; 6. 'Realistic Engagement' and the limits of solidarity: Athol Fugard in (East) Germany; 7. Truth, reconciliation, and the ends of political performance; Coda; Index.