Minou Arjomand
Staged: Show Trials, Political Theater, and the Aesthetics of Judgment
Staged: Show Trials, Political Theater, and the Aesthetics of Judgment
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Excellent- More about Staged: Show Trials, Political Theater, and the Aesthetics of Judgment
The article explores how theater can be a place for storytelling and judgment that are inadmissible in a court of law but indispensable for public life, drawing on a rich archive of postwar German and American rehearsals and performances. It argues that the act of judging a performance in the company of others is what makes theater political, rather than the subject matter.
Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 248 pages
Publication date: 18 January 2022
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Theater, by its very nature, necessitates artifice. Conversely, justice demands truth. The question arises: Are these demands inherently irreconcilable, as suggested by the pejorative term "show trials"?
After the Second World War, canonical directors and playwrights sought to reclaim a new public role for theater by re-enacting the great trials of the era as theatrical productions. The Nuremberg trials, the Eichmann trial, and the Auschwitz trials were all performed multiple times, first in courts and then in theaters. Does justice require both the confines of courtrooms and the stages of theaters?
In her book Staged, Minou Arjomand delves into a rich archive of postwar German and American rehearsals and performances to explore how theater can become a space for storytelling and judgment that are inadmissible in a court of law but essential for public life. Through her analysis, she uncovers the affinities between dramatists like Bertolt Brecht, Erwin Piscator, and Peter Weiss, as well as philosophers like Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin, demonstrating how they responded to the rise of fascism with a new politics of performance. Arjomand argues that it is not the subject matter alone that makes theater political, but rather the act of judging a performance in the company of others.
Staged skillfully weaves together theater history and political philosophy into a compelling and timely argument for the significance of theaters as public institutions. By examining the ways in which theater can facilitate forms of storytelling and judgment that are beyond the scope of legal proceedings, Arjomand offers a fresh perspective on the role of theater in shaping public discourse and fostering democratic engagement.
Weight: 382g
Dimension: 151 x 323 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231187794
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