7.1 Postmodern Theory in Theater

Postmodern theory in theater challenges traditional notions of reality, narrative, and performance. It embraces fragmentation, multiple perspectives, and blurred boundaries between art and life. This approach questions the stability of identity and meaning, encouraging audiences to engage critically with theatrical experiences.

Postmodern techniques in theater include metatheatrical devices, non-linear storytelling, and pastiche. These methods subvert conventional narratives, break the fourth wall, and mix different styles and cultural references. The result is a thought-provoking, often disorienting theatrical experience that reflects our complex, media-saturated world.

Postmodern Concepts

Defining Characteristics of Postmodernism

Top images from around the web for Defining Characteristics of Postmodernism

• 

  Genre and "Sense of Community" | Kappelhoff | mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Post-structuralism | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Genre and "Sense of Community" | Kappelhoff | mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Post-structuralism | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 2

Top images from around the web for Defining Characteristics of Postmodernism

• 

  Genre and "Sense of Community" | Kappelhoff | mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Post-structuralism | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Genre and "Sense of Community" | Kappelhoff | mediaesthetics – Journal of Poetics of Audiovisual ... View original

  Is this image relevant?

• 

  Pragmatism, Critical Theory and Post-structuralism | Flickr View original

  Is this image relevant?

1 of 2

• Postmodernism rejects grand narratives, universal truths, and objective reality in favor of subjective experiences and multiple perspectives
• Emphasizes fragmentation, or the breaking down of traditional structures and boundaries, leading to a sense of discontinuity and chaos
• Embraces pluralism, recognizing and valuing the coexistence of diverse viewpoints, cultures, and interpretations without privileging any single one
• Subscribes to relativism, the idea that truth, knowledge, and morality are not absolute but relative to individual, cultural, or historical contexts
• Promotes decentralization, challenging hierarchies and authority while empowering marginalized voices and perspectives (postcolonial literature, feminist theory)

Postmodern Worldview and its Implications

• Questions the stability and coherence of identity, suggesting that the self is fluid, fragmented, and socially constructed rather than fixed and essential
• Blurs boundaries between high and low culture, art and commerce, reality and fiction, leading to a mixing and merging of genres, styles, and forms (pop art, graphic novels)
• Critiques the notion of originality and authenticity, arguing that all cultural production is inherently intertextual, a pastiche or collage of pre-existing elements
• Challenges the Enlightenment faith in reason, progress, and the emancipatory potential of knowledge, instead highlighting the limits and biases of human understanding
• Raises concerns about the role of language, discourse, and representation in shaping our perception of reality, often through self-reflexive and metafictional techniques that expose the artifice of the text

Postmodern Techniques

Metatheatrical Devices

• Metatheatre refers to the use of self-referential techniques that draw attention to the artificiality and constructedness of the theatrical event
• Breaks the fourth wall by having characters directly address the audience, comment on the play's action, or acknowledge their own fictional status
• Incorporates play-within-a-play structures or scenes that mirror and comment on the main plot, creating a sense of layering and self-reflection (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead)
• Uses non-linear or fragmented narratives that disrupt traditional cause-and-effect relationships and challenge the audience's expectations of coherence and closure
• Employs self-conscious or parodic acting styles that foreground the performer's presence and the act of performance itself, rather than aiming for naturalistic illusion

Subverting Narrative Conventions

• Anti-narrative techniques resist or subvert traditional storytelling structures, such as the Aristotelian plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end
• Presents events out of chronological order, with flashbacks, flash-forwards, or multiple timelines that destabilize the sense of linear progression
• Features open-ended or ambiguous conclusions that deny the audience a sense of resolution or catharsis, leaving room for multiple interpretations
• Incorporates elements of chance, improvisation, or audience participation that introduce unpredictability and challenge the author's control over the work
• Juxtaposes seemingly unrelated or contradictory elements, creating a sense of absurdity, irony, or disorientation that undermines the search for coherent meaning (Theatre of the Absurd)

Pastiche and Intertextuality

• Pastiche involves the imitation, borrowing, or combination of various styles, genres, or works from different sources, often in a playful or ironic manner
• Creates a collage-like effect by juxtaposing disparate elements, such as mixing high and low culture, historical and contemporary references, or fictional and real-world materials
• Relies heavily on intertextuality, or the complex web of relationships between texts, as each work is seen as a tissue of quotations and allusions to other works
• Challenges notions of originality and authorship, suggesting that all cultural production is inherently derivative and that meaning arises from the interplay between texts
• Can serve as a form of critique or commentary on the referenced works, genres, or cultural norms, often through parody, pastiche, or satire (Postmodern architecture's eclectic mixing of historical styles)

Postmodern Reality

Simulacrum and the Blurring of Reality

• Simulacrum refers to a copy or representation that has no original referent, a sign that has become detached from the reality it purports to represent
• Suggests that in a media-saturated, consumer-driven society, reality has been replaced by simulations and representations that precede and shape our understanding of the world
• Blurs the distinction between reality and its representations, as images and signs become more real than the things they represent (advertising, virtual reality)
• Raises questions about authenticity, identity, and the nature of reality itself, as the boundaries between the real and the artificial become increasingly porous
• Highlights the role of media, technology, and capitalism in creating and perpetuating these simulations, often with the effect of manipulating or controlling human desires and behaviors

Hyperreality and the Postmodern Condition

• Hyperreality describes a condition in which the distinction between reality and simulation has collapsed, and simulations have become more real than reality itself
• Arises from the proliferation of signs, images, and media that create a sense of reality more intense and compelling than everyday life (theme parks, virtual worlds)
• Leads to a loss of stable reference points and a sense of disorientation, as individuals become immersed in a world of simulations without a clear sense of what is real
• Reflects the postmodern condition, characterized by a fragmentation of identity, a loss of historical continuity, and a sense of dislocation in a rapidly changing, media-saturated world
• Raises ethical and political concerns about the power of simulations to shape beliefs, desires, and behaviors, and the potential for manipulation and control in a hyperreal world (social media echo chambers, deepfakes)