Overview

Theatermachine: Tadeusz Kantor in Context is an in-depth, multidisciplinary compendium of essays about one of the most influential theater artists of the twentieth century. Hans-Thies Lehmann’s theory of postdramatic theater and developments in critical theory—particularly Bill Brown’s thing theory, Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory, and posthumanism—serve to provide a previously unavailable vocabulary for discussion of Kantor’s theater. Drawing on diverse approaches, the contributors write about Kantor from both global and local perspectives: as an exemplar of “postdramatic tragedy”; in relationship to Jewish culture and Yiddish theater; through the prism of postmemory and trauma theory; and in relation to Japanese, German, French, Polish, and American avant-garde theater. This comprehensive anthology arrives at a time when we grapple with the materiality of our modern lives—AI, technobjects, and algorithms—and might thus also be better poised to understand the materiality that permeates Kantor’s theater. Theatermachine argues that while confronting the twentieth century’s most pressing, but least comfortable, questions—those of a human’s worth, dignity, essence, and purpose—Kantor might also have been, unwittingly, a harbinger of the twenty-first century’s political, ethical, aesthetic, and critical discourse.

Full Product Details

Author:   Magda Romanska ,  Kathleen Cioffi ,  Martin Leach ,  Michal Kobialka
Publisher:   Northwestern University Press
Imprint:   Northwestern University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.70cm , Height: 2.70cm , Length: 23.10cm
Weight:   0.825kg
ISBN:  

9780810140257

ISBN 10:   081014025
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   30 April 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Kantor: A Short Biography Part I: Kantor in Theory Tadeusz Kantor and Modernism Tadeusz Kantor’s Objects: Materialism of the Encounter Human/Object/Thing: Kantor’s Puppets and Bio-objects Crushed People: Kantor and Trauma Theory Kantor and the Theatre of Postmemory Postdramatic Tragedy: Notes on the Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor Kantor and the Posthuman Stage Part II: Kantor, Locally Transgression and Eschatology in the Work of Tadeusz Kantor Possessed by the Traumatic Past: Postmemory and S. An-sky’s Dybbuk in Kantor’s Dead Class Tadeusz Kantor and Bruno Schulz Kantor and Witkacy: Childish Games with Death Witkacy’s and Gombrowicz’s Influence on the Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor Kantor’s and Grotowski’s Poor Theatre Imagining a Future that Never Was: Tadeusz Kantor’s Symbiotic Jewish-Polish Stage Kantor and Slobodzianek: The Dead Class and Our Class From Tadeusz Kantor’s Anatomy Lesson to the Autopsy in Polish Contemporary Art Part III: Kantor, Globally Kantor and Early Twentieth Century European Avant-Garde Directors Tadeusz Kantor and the German Bauhaus: From Technological to Metaphysical Utopia. Kantor and Japan On the Reception of Tadeusz Kantor’s Work in Germany Kantor and the Contemporary European Avant-Garde: Marthaler, Perceval, and Hermanis Kantor and the Contemporary French Avant-Garde Kantor, Pina Bausch, and Dance Theatre Kantor and the American Avant-Garde Contributors

Reviews

This groundbreaking collection of beautifully edited essays is impressive in both scope and depth. The book deftly interweaves Kantor's Polish, Jewish, international, and theoretical roots, thus illuminating essential connections between each in thrilling new ways. --Dassia Posner, Northwestern University, author of The Director's Prism: E. T. A. Hoffmann and the Russian Theatrical Avant-Garde An invaluable and much needed collection on the incomparable Kantor--his work, his life, his theatrical prescience. Kantor confronted the twentieth century in profound ways that changed the future of theater. This volume approaches his methods and means through twenty-first century lenses that Kantor's own work might be said to have forecast--post-dramatic theory, new materialism, thing theory, and posthumanism. As such, Theatermachine expands our understanding not only of the theater artist but of theory and practice that would follow. --Rebecca Schneider, Brown University, the author of Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment A unique collection, full of splendid writing and vivid insight, destined to become an essential resource on one of the twentieth century's seminal experimental theater artists. --Jonathan Kalb, Hunter College, the author of Great Lengths: Seven Works of Marathon Theater

Author Information

Magda Romanska is an associate professor in the department of performing arts at Emerson College and the author of Post-traumatic Theatre of Grotowski and Kantor. Kathleen Cioffi is a theater historian who specializes in Polish theater. She is the author of Alternative Theatre in Poland, 1954–1989.

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