Sumários
3 Novembro 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
The first part of the class consisted in feedback on the close reading exercise included in the midterm exam (excerpt from Sartre's Les Mouches).
In the second part, students presented Anouilh's play. The presentation was structured as follows: introduction about the author; description of two major themes (the role of the Chorus in the play and gender representation); close reading of an excerpt of the play. Based on the students' presentation, the discussion started with a consideration of the importance of theatricality and performance in the social and ideological construction of gender (ref. Judith Butler). After that, we read the beginning of the Prologue to highlight some of the characteristics of the central role, Antigone. Particularly, we spoke of her physical constitution and what it announces from a gender perspective, her being diminished by her family as an interesting prelude to her taking the role of a tragic heroine, and the metatheatrical language that the play displays from the very beginning. We reflected on how the use of metatheatrical language enhances the idea of absurdity that we will later see developed in the rest of the play. The central question arising from the text seems to be the following one: once the divine horizon of Sophocles' play is abandoned, what constitutes the "natural law" that Antigone should embody?
More to follow on the topic!
27 Outubro 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
Today's classroom was canceled due to the instructor's absence for a conference presentation. The class was replaced by an optional activity ("Estava em casa e esperava que a chuva viesse", Teatro da Politécnica, Sept. 30).
25 Outubro 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
The midterm exam took place today during class time.
20 Outubro 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
Today's class started with a presentation of the text by the students.
During the discussion that followed we commented on the different parts in which the text can be divided (description of absurd as a feeling; "symptoms" or manifestations of the absurd feeling; rational approaches to absurdity and their limits; absurdity and philosophy: a state of the art). After that, we discussed some formal aspects of the text and how they contribute to the overall structure of the essay (examples drawn from real life; metaphors aimed at clarifying the argument; the reference to authorities, ranging from Nietzsche to contemporary philosophers; the narrativization of the theoretical problem through the illustration of the myth of Sisyphus).
Finally, I briefly introduced the theater of the absurd, which we will tackle in the next few classes, namely with Anouilh and Beckett.
18 Outubro 2023, 14:00
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Chiara Nifosi
During this third session dedicated to the second part of Électre ou La Chute des masques, we expanded on the idea introduced by Yourcenar in her preface - that the play will slowly unmasks the characters, that is to say, their deeper motivations that support their acts and behavior. This process of "unmasking" is activated by interaction and seems to involve triangular situations (Clytemnestra, Electra, and Aegisthus, where Clytemnestra serves as a mirror to unmask Electra's attraction to her stepfather; Pylades, Orestes, and Aegisthus, where Pylades mediates between Orestes and Aegisthus, the latter having hidden the fact that he is Orestes' real father).
Yourcenar seems to point at the fact that, regardless of the real motivations of the characters, there is a certain degree of ineluctability in their destiny. In Yourcenar, this aspect of the reworking of ancient myths - their flexibility - is accompanied by the awareness of their historical evolution, which entails a constant confrontation with tradition.
Finally, we discussed the used of metatheatrical language and imagery in the second part of the play, especially in the scenes following Clytemnestra's death.