Edward Albee

Though Edward Albee has occupied a prominent position within the American theatre for nearly four decades, his career has been quite controversial. But whether one is an «Albeephile)) or an «Albeephobe» -terms coined by Roudané to encapsulate the different attitudes to Albee ( Understanding Edward Albee 7)-, it would be unfair to deny bis artistic integrity. The easiest thing after the overnight success of Who 's A/raid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) would have been to go on writing plays with a similar appeal to audiences. There were, however, other concems and forros that he wanted to explore, and, conscious as Albee was of the difficulty and unpopularity of their pursuit, he did not flinch from the task; as a result, bis plays after 1966 have been among the most obscure and experimental of the American drama. But with Three Tall Women (1991), one of bis latest works, he has been welcomed back to the Olympus of successful Broadway celebrities. 1 A close examination of this play reveals, however, strong connections with previous work by the dramatist. Among them are its Existentialist overtones, which this article will seek to unveil and which have been, as will also be shown, a permanent feature of Albee's dramatic production, in different degrees and forms, ever since its start. In Roudané's words, «Three Tall Women embodies major philosophical issues that have long been synonymous with Albee's worh (American Drama 25). If the subject matter of plays such as The Zoo Story (1958), Who's A/raid of Virginia Wooif? (1962) or A Delicate , was the inauthentic kind of existence favoured by so many human beings in contemporary society, and that of Seascape ( 1975) was growing older and its implications, Three Tal! Women takes us back to 1 Though Three Tall Wlnnen is undoubtedly an outslanding play, Gradet probably exaggerates in calling it «lhe best American play of the last 65 years» (np). Banham ironically remarks that «[a]lmost every non-realistic modern dramatist has had this label affixedn (989). ' Thc play was !irst produccd at the English Thcatrc of Vienna on 14 June 199 1. It was thcn performcu on 30 July 1992 at the River Arts Repertory of Woodstock. Ncw York. and finally prcmiered in a regular production on 27 January 1994 at the Vineyard Theatrc in Ncw York City. lt was awardcd the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Will Stackman contcnds ironically that Albee •s play «is one or thosc pieces of serious writing the Pulitzcr jury sccms to prder. fu ll of implication, but not neccssarily a play» (np).

This article offers an annotated translation of the tale Níall Frassach's Act of Truth (Níall, 2002) from Modern English into Brazilian Portuguese, a text that reveals a queer presence in medieval Irish literature. Thus, reflections on Butler9s term queer (2019) and Stockton's concept of queer reading (2023) support this work. We also used readings related to issues of gender and sexuality in medieval texts by Deplagne (2019), Rossiaud (2006) and Gos (2013), in addition to the work of McManus (2008). The narrative deals with two women who lived in a same-sex relationship and the wise decision of an Irish king regarding the paternity of the son of one of them. This translation may contribute to the debate related to the Queer Studies, focusing on Queer Literature, by revealing literary texts that touch on the theme of same-sex relationships between women in works of medieval Irish literature. It also leads to a reflection on the need for writers dedicated to promoting greater visibility of queer characters in their contemporary narratives and for translators engaged in this type of translation project.

Η παρούσα μελέτη εξετάζει δύο έργα της σύγχρονης αμερικανικής δραματουργίας υπό το φως της αισθητικής επιρροής της θεωρίας του χιούμορ -ή αλλιώς umorismo- του Luigi Pirandello. Ο λόγος για τα Ποιος φοβάται τη Βιρτζίνια Γουλφ; (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) του Edward Albee και Τριαντάφυλλο στο στήθος (The rose tattoo) του Tennessee Williams. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, τα δύο αυτά κείμενα ενέχουν κοινούς σημειολογικούς κώδικες, κρυμμένες έννοιες και φιλοσοφικό υπόστρωμα, αποτυπώνοντας άλλοτε με εύληπτο και εμφανή τρόπο και άλλοτε με δύσληπτο και ερεβώδη τις πιο σημαντικές αρχές της θεωρίας του Luigi Pirandello. Δεν είναι γνωστό αν οι δύο σημαντικοί Αμερικανοί δραματουργοί του 20ού αιώνα, που άφησαν ανεξίτηλα ίχνη στην πορεία του διεθνούς θεάτρου τόσο στον τομέα της δραματουργίας,
όσο και σε αυτόν της θεατρικής πρακτικής, επέλεξαν συνειδητά να εισαγάγουν στοιχεία της αισθητικής του Pirandello στο έργο τους ή απλώς η επιρροή του τελευταίου εμφώλευσε ασυνείδητα σε αυτό λόγω της εντρύφησής τους στη θεατρική τέχνη. Επίσης, στα δύο υπό εξέτασιν έργα, φωτίζονται τα λαογραφικά και ηθογραφικά στοιχεία που είναι αντλημένα από τον ιταλικό πολιτισμό, επιβεβαιώνοντας ότι το εν λόγω δραματουργικό φαινόμενο αξίζει περεταίρω έρευνας και εμβάθυνσης από τη μεριά της διεθνούς επιστήμης.

The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned." (Antonio Gramsci) Modern American Society was an assault equally on the integrity of an individual and the social contract which sustains that individual in his relations with others resulting in alienation. But if alienation erodes a sense of the real and breeds a mode of conformity as an apparent solution to the problems of isolation, it also creates a sense of guilt, nebulous, unrelated, an acknowledgement of that very failure of community and organic relationship which is itself the essence of alienation. In order to create awareness and a sense of kinship amongst his fellow Americans, Albee says: "Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly." (The Zoo Story 12

Drawing on Wallace Stevens’s ideas of Supreme Fiction, this research aims to prove that Albee’s plays are a form of supreme fiction which adopts deviant or unreal ways to depict the real. The primary texts used in this research are The Sandbox and The American Dream. In “Notes Towards a Supreme Fiction”, Stevens gives us an inexhaustible pool of fiction available to mankind by way of which the real can be accessed. Just as the roaring of ‘the lion’, ‘buzzing of bees, composing of ‘music’, and making of sculptures are various expressions (Stevens, 1942)—amidst others—of a single idea, Theatre of the Absurd is also an expression of a creative imagination that seeks ways to channel its creative outpour in socially expressible ways. The paper also maintains that the darkly comic mode, the grotesquely caricatured characters, and the absurd situations are sublimated versions of the real. This invented mode of expression is the writer’s method of expressing the inexpressible.

This dissertation attempts to study the failure of the American dream symbolized through the theme of sterility. This theme is examined in three major plays selected from the twentieth century American drama. Drama has always been a popular art form used to transfer, record, and challenge the ideas of a particular era. Contemporary drama is one of the best resources for understanding the way of thinking of recent generations and how people view the world around them. Throughout this dissertation, we have referred to the numerous social, genders, political and economic issues that relate to the theme of sterility. Our study of the three plays written between 1955-1979 ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"1958 by Tennessee Williams, "Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"1962 by Edward Albee and "Buried Child"1978 by Sam Shepard has enabled us to diagnoses the different forms of sterility treated in each play i.e. the biological, the emotional and later the spiritual one. As we have endeavoured to demonstrate the cause /effect relationship of each form and the way each represents and symbolizes the failure of the American dream. As the theme of sterility is tied to American family, we have also emphasized the role of the family, the relation between husband and wife and the relation between parents and their children. Much stress is put on alcoholism, homosexuality, and aging as being determinant factors that lead to sterility and on how family members perceive themselves and others as "things" in America's capitalistic society. In addition, we have investigated women status within American society which shifts from weak and powerless to a more powerful and domineering role. We have also opened a lens on the role of men and their emasculation by women. This study also explores the theme of family dysfunction and the impact of childless life on both mother's and father's attitudes and behaviours and thus on the deterioration of the American family. At the end of the analysis of the selected dramatic works we have compared their plot and how the transitions from one form of sterility to the other correspond to the time periods of the play's settings. Thus the conclusion leads us to confirm that the realization of the American dream is impossible.

The present paper explains the famous American drama of Edward Albee's The Zoo Story that depicts how gradually the social issues, lack of communication and alienation took place. The important of the American drama specifically in modern and postmodern period is clear in the several themes which are displaying the difficulties of American society. The play the zoo story also exposes how to struggle against social issues such as family fragmentation, lack of communication and other issues. So how Edward Albee accounts for the contemporary social issues in this play and how the American society is influenced by those problems?

Coined and first theorized by BBC Radio drama critic Martin Esslin in a 1960 article and a 1961 book of the same name, the "Theatre of the Absurd" is a literary and theatrical term used to describe a disparate group of avant-garde plays by a number of mostly European or American avant-garde playwrights whose theatrical careers, generally, began in the 1950s and 1960s. Of the playwrights and writers

Drawing some suggestive lines to John Guare, ones that pass separately through both Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee, this essay examines how each playwright portrays, and portrays the relationship between, love and lies. Looking at the living rooms and living spaces of Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, this essay suggests that Guare follows Albee in a long list of American living room dramatists.

Edward Albee, a towering figure in 20th-century American drama, is often associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. Yet, his body of work demonstrates a unique departure from the existential despair of absurdist playwrights like Samuel Beckett. Instead, Albee employs his theatre as a weapon of social critique, tackling the hypocrisy, materialism, and moral decay of contemporary society. His plays are not resigned to cosmic futility but are deeply committed to the cause of human dignity and the possibility of change. The American Dream (1960) epitomizes Albee's unique voice, blending biting satire with a sharp examination of social ills.

Writers who have undergone a psychic trauma during their childhood mirror those memories in their works. Those memories, as Freud says, are a site where the past is maintained, nourished and sometimes rewritten. Based on the theories of Freud and

This paper explores the intersection of Edward Albee's existentialist plays and Buddhist ideologies, revealing a profound resonance between the two. Through a critical analysis of selected plays, including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "A Delicate Balance", "The Zoo Story", "The Sandbox", "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?", and "The Play About the Baby", this study demonstrates how Albee's work critiques the notion of a fixed self, reflects the impermanent nature of reality, and confronts the human condition of suffering, desire, and attachment. By examining the convergence of Albee's absurdist theatre and Buddhist teachings, this research offers new insights into the playwright's oeuvre and the universal human experiences that underlie his work.

This paper explores the intersection of Edward Albee's existentialist plays and Buddhist ideologies, revealing a profound resonance between the two. Through a critical analysis of selected plays, including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "A Delicate Balance", "The Zoo Story", "The Sandbox", "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?", and "The Play About the Baby", this study demonstrates how Albee's work critiques the notion of a fixed self, reflects the impermanent nature of reality, and confronts the human condition of suffering, desire, and attachment. By examining the convergence of Albee's absurdist theatre and Buddhist teachings, this research offers new insights into the playwright's oeuvre and the universal human experiences that underlie his work.

Edward Albee's The Zoo Story is about the interaction between its two main characters Peter and Jerry dramatizing the former's disillusionment in the hands of the latter; Jerry's speech and action aim at shattering Peter's obsession with material things, his easy justification for stability, and his reluctance to understand the alienation at the core of his life. Jerry's success in changing Peter comes at the cost of his life; however, there are interesting techniques deployed by him in order to convert Peter from an incommunicative person to someone who finally understands the value of human connection. Concentration on the conflicts between the two characters, detecting the causes of their alienation, and finally analyzing the techniques that Jerry employs to convert Peter, are the main issues discussed in this study with the hope to enlighten the hidden corners and revealing the implied meanings of a play which is quite rich in its symbolic suggestiveness.

The present thesis offers a Spanish translation for the stage of Edward Albee's play Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? and an exploration of drama translation, a hitherto neglected area within translation studies. This thesis draws together existing translation theory with translation practice in order to modestly contribute some practical insights into the developing theory of theatre translation. It focuses on the dramatic text as a particular literary text whose characteristics bear upon its translation. Hence, this thesis focuses on the dramatic text exposing its double nature as a literary text written for a theatrical performance and explaining the consequences of this dual function for drama translators, who can treat dramatic texts as literary texts and follow the conventions of the literary system during the translation process or they can consider their spectacle dimension and treat them as an integral part of a theatrical performance. The resulting products of both ...

The current study tackles the philosophical concept of moral decadence in the modern American play The Zoo Story by Edward Albee. The research concentrates on how specific characters tend to have low moral standards, and what detrimental and deteriorating effects of their immorality could harm the people around them. The research follows Aristotle`s philosophical concept of morality, what Greeks used to consider to be moral and immoral. Immanuel Kant`s views are also taken into account to measure characters` misconducts as well. As an existential play, the study sheds light on various social and family problems, such as poverty, lack of education, prostitution, hopelessness and bereavement. These appalling circumstances inevitably could have a tremendous effect on the low-class people in the American society of the late 1950s. Most notably, both Jerry and Petter are the embodiment of this society, where each one belongs to a distinct social class. The research exemplifies how such social predicaments could change the direction of each one of the mentioned characters. The main focus is on Jerry as he is the most talkative, absurdist, problematic, confused and suicidal character in the play.

subverzivna američka drama ili simpatija za losere RIJEKA 1994. SUBVERZIVNA AMERiČKA DRAMA III SIMPATIJA ZA LOSERE • uvodna bilješka o tri pitanja Kolegij dr. Borisa Senkera na Postdiplomskom studiju književnosti na zagrebačkom Filozofskom fakultetu o američkoj drami 1985/86. školske godine u obvezlloj literaturi imao je i sedamdesetak najznačajnijih američkih dtama. Citajući te drame iznenadile su me stanovite značajke iz kojih su nastala tri pitanja. Ponajprije, kako to da se većina značajnijih drama tematski bavi /oserima (gubitnicima) u zemlji u kojoj je vrhunska vrijednost American Dream (Američki san)-mit o uspjehu u svom najčišćem obliku? Drugo je pitanje što je s postojećim, a od američke kritike vrlo često zanemarenim, dramama sasvim drukčijeg tematskog profila? Treće pitanje je kako to da se tematski istovjetne drame koje se bave /oserima, ipak razlikuju jedna od druge? Eto, tako su jedan dobro koncipiran kolegij i tri pitanja odredila nastanak i sadržaj ove knjige. Iz prvog pitanja proizašao je izbor organizacijskog načela, iz drugog pitanja je proizašla podjela američke drame na pravce, a iz trećeg su nastali podpravci pravca kojim se ova knjiga bavi. Ali tu nije kraj. Tetralogija u nadnaslovu ove knjige označava da je ona jedna četvrtina projekta koji bi obuhvatio četiri trenutačno najznačajnija pravca suvremene američke drame. Upravo radim na drugoj knjizi, a nadam se da projekt neću ostaviti nezavršen.

The aim of the article is to explore the reception of Edward Albee's drama in the country of Georgia. On the one hand, the proposed work is mainly an attempt to analyze critical reviews related to Albee's work, whilst, on the other hand, the paper introduces an overview of a number of staged versions of Albee's The Zoo Story performed in Georgian theatres in an analytical approach and their critical reception. It has to be noted that Edward Albee in Georgia is mostly perceived as a representative of the Absurd Theatre. According to Hungarian critic, Martin Esslin, being the first to use the term "The Theatre of Absurd", Albee "americanized" the global concept of life's absurdity accentuated in existentialist philosophy and then echoed in the Theatre of Absurd through ironizing the American Dream and criticizing steady social-economic structures and normalized gender identities within the society. Albee managed to adopt essential and eternal human problems of alienation, loneliness and despair to an American reality. It is clear that the analytical perspectives and approaches declared in the articles written in Georgian significantly influence critical highlights and evaluation as well as aspectual focuses and interpretations demonstrated in the performed versions of the Zoo Story on the Georgian stage.

Though Edward Albee has occupied a prominent position within the American theatre for nearly four decades, his career has been quite controversial. But whether one is an «Albeephile)) or an «Albeephobe»-terms coined by Roudané to encapsulate the different attitudes to Albee (Understanding Edward Albee 7)-, it would be unfair to deny bis artistic integrity. The easiest thing after the overnight success of Who 's A/raid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) would have been to go on writing plays with a similar appeal to audiences. There were, however, other concems and forros that he wanted to explore, and, conscious as Albee was of the difficulty and unpopularity of their pursuit, he did not flinch from the task; as a result, bis plays after 1966 have been among the most obscure and experimental of the American drama. But with Three Tall Women (1991), one of bis latest works, he has been welcomed back to the Olympus of successful Broadway celebrities. 1 A close examination of this play reveals, however, strong connections with previous work by the dramatist. Among them are its Existentialist overtones, which this article will seek to unveil and which have been, as will also be shown, a permanent feature of Albee's dramatic production, in different degrees and forms, ever since its start. In Roudané's words, «Three Tall Women embodies major philosophical issues that have long been synonymous with Albee's worh (American Drama 25). If the subject matter of plays such as The Zoo Story (1958), Who's A/raid of Virginia Wooif? (1962) or A Delicate Balance (1966), was the inauthentic kind of existence favoured by so many human beings in contemporary society, and that of Seascape (1975) was growing older and its implications, Three Tal! Women takes us back to 1 Though Three Tall Wlnnen is undoubtedly an outslanding play, Gradet probably exaggerates in calling it «lhe best American play of the last 65 years» (np).

The fact that he can talk so easily and comfortably with a man he has never known tells us how Jerry who is a lonely man needed to talk with someone. Jerry needs someone's company so much that he wants the dog to love him. His planned suicide at the end of the play shows that loneliness can lead to suicide.

Kroz fantazmagoričnu džunglu živaca izraslu na tlu svaštoznale misli, ne možete se probiti pravolinijskim kretanjem. Koliko god ga čitali, Tin ostaje nedočitan i ako ikad želite dospeti na poneko osunčano mesto, ne smete prestati da od njega odlazite. U pojam iz naslova ove knjige stekla se sva dinamika imanentna biću od nemira: ateisti čije je obožavanje ravno religioznom zanosu, užarenom poeti iz sjemeništa, erotomanu u celibatu. Ne postoji konačna verzija teksta o Tinu, sve su one beskonačne. Vedrina je laka, kristalna kocka (reći će 1930. baš u Sarajevu) – njena veličina je odrediva, dimenzije su joj jasne i ista je sa svih strana. Ipak, nju je kanio ostaviti potonjim generacijama, kao jedini čist element izolovan iz crnih nepregledi dušine rude, ili simbol umetničke težnje za lepotom. Jedan predgovor je tesan, a jedan život malo, da bi se obuhvatio makar manji deo Tinovog stvaralaštva, onaj pesnički. Bio je izrazito nadahnut pisac proznih crtica, feljtonist, esejist i kritičar; jedan od utemeljivača savremenog poetskog izraza u hrvatskom, ali i drugim jezicima, danas zvanično „naslednicima“ nekadašnjeg srpskohrvatskog/hrvatskosrpskog govornog područja. (...) Traga za prijateljima, a odbija nametljivce i birokrate, posebno birokrate literature (Žeželj, s.354). U čežnji za ljudima, ljudi se kloni. (...) Telo je sasvim opipljivo, izvor radosti i svetlosti; ljubav, čak i ako nema konkretne žene o kojoj snatri, za Tina je jedini istinski stimulans, koji otvara poglede ka unutarnjoj neizmernosti. U Turris eburnea, pravoj „himni“ ženskom erotizmu, moliće „svetište skrovito“ da udahne život u „nepomična, bijela ženska tjelesa“. No i u ovoj, reklo bi se, „animalnijoj“ fazi, vatru u sebi će dovesti do drugog ekstrema (nasuprot nekadašnjoj askezi); puštajući da ga želja izludi, u jednom će trenutku poželeti da „njuši ženska krzna“ (Boko, s.125). Žena nastanjuje ćelije – kao groznica, vrućica; a najviše ona slova koja nisu dobila oblika u Tinovim pesmama. Strah od žene je patološki, a uništiteljski potencijal mu je ponovo usmeren na samog pesnika: koliko god da želi zbližavanje, toliko će um samomučiteljski proizvesti više barijera i razloga „zašto ne“. Ponekad, pokazaće gađenje glede površnosti nekih žena, ubogosti pariskih „jadnica“ koje se vuku s one strane života, ili ga pak zbunjuje njihova nedodirljivost (jer se možda neke od njih „gade“ njega, posebno u onim danima kad se baš nije brinuo o higijeni, na primer) – to nikad neće otvoreno priznati. Ipak, njen pojam ostaje neodvojivi deo njegovog ljudskog i pesničkog tela. Ž

Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, who emerged as playwrights in the post-war world, after the 1945, brought American Drama to prominence and dominated the American theatre for nearly a decade and a half. Both began their careers as political playwrights by responding to the economic and social realities of the age. After the 1950 another major figure appeared and provoked radical experimentation by combining aesthetic innovation with political revolt. His name was Edward Albee. All these figures played an enormous role in the process of transformation and innovation in the American theatre. The three of them with their talents, their aesthetic experimentation and political beliefs made the American theatre a 'fascinating phenomenon.' Although they are a product of the same nation, including political and cultural background, they are still very different in the way they present to the public the social drama, the transformation of the American dream, the character they c...

IRONY. a verbal expression of 'uncooperative behavior', is by its nature at hem,. ~ in modem drama, especially the theater of the absurd: it absurdly violates the Gricean coop ~rati':e principle, and the maxim of quality in particular. In Edward Atbee's 'Who's Afraic~ of Virginia Wool~', irony becomes an intricate language game. The dissonance between intended com~ municative content and apprehended content basic to irony develops into at [east three different mechanisms: (i) the simple negation of literal meaning gives the intended meaaing; (ii)by violating the sincerity condition of the illocutionary act, the illocutionary Jorce cf the ironic speech act is reversed; (iii) the meaning conveyed by irony is presupposition (and al:;o downgraded predication, entailment and expectation) logically implying its own negation In Albee's masterpiece piay~ irony serves the game of exorcism. ' 1 am grateful to Ferenc Kiefer (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and Jacob L. Me) (Odense Uniiversity) for reading an earlier draft of this manuscript and suggesting many improvemerits. I would also like to thank Robert L. Brown (University of Minne:;ota) and Martin Steinmann (University of Illinois, Chicago Circle) for discussing various point.,; of the paper with me. The remaining ntistakes are, of course~ my ~w~. Mailing addr~;ss: Enik6 Bollob~is, Orgona ut. 8, H-1023 Budapest, Hur~gary. [1] When J.R, 8earle (1969,) put down the rules regulating the act of promising and the conditions allowing for the illocutionary forces of illocutionary acts, he, too, clarified conversational prin~ple~ finfilar to the later Gricean tenets, except within the more restricted territory of protnising.

The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to make the readers acquainted with the realities of the twentieth century American family, as perceived by the two American playwrights, and, on the other hand, to underline the unusual phenomena that have been brought by the changing dynamics of the family relationships. All the five plays under discussion-All Over, A Delicate Balance, The American Dream, The Sandbox by Edward Albee, and Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad by Arthur Kopit-present situations in which the female characters seem to have become the leader, taking the place of the head of the family, of the pater familias. They stop acting like loving mothers and wives, they forget to take care of their families; instead, they lock away their hearts and assume the part of some sort of tyrant: they control everyone and everything in the house, their word being the equivalent of a rule. The female characters are endowed with masculine traits, whereas the male characters are emasculated, effeminate, deprived of any kind of power. The purpose of the paper is to demystify the myth of the ideal, perfect American family, to make the readers realize that the image that has been presented to the non-American public is, in the twentieth century, nothing but a disguise. Our goal is to display the image of the new American family hoping that, in doing so, we will succeed in making the readers realize the fact that human relationships, especially the ones within the family, need to be re-established on a deeper and more meaningful level.

This paper looks at the use of the standard and the vernacular in the Moroccan novel Qiṣṣat ḥadīqat al-ḥayawān (The Zoo Story) by Youssef Fadel. It demonstrates that the writer uses the vernacular as an ideological stance, and to comment on political predicaments, domestic and global. I argue that the use of the two varieties are used along ideological lines, not as each other's opposite, but to put each other into relief, and that they are competing for hegemony rather than being in a static relationship.

The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to make the readers acquainted with the realities of the twentieth century American family, as perceived by the two American playwrights, and, on the other hand, to underline the unusual phenomena that have been brought by the changing dynamics of the family relationships. All the five plays under discussion-All Over, A Delicate Balance, The American Dream, The Sandbox by Edward Albee, and Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad by Arthur Kopit-present situations in which the female characters seem to have become the leader, taking the place of the head of the family, of the pater familias. They stop acting like loving mothers and wives, they forget to take care of their families; instead, they lock away their hearts and assume the part of some sort of tyrant: they control everyone and everything in the house, their word being the equivalent of a rule. The female characters are endowed with masculine traits, whereas the male characters are emasculated, effeminate, deprived of any kind of power. The purpose of the paper is to demystify the myth of the ideal, perfect American family, to make the readers realize that the image that has been presented to the non-American public is, in the twentieth century, nothing but a disguise. Our goal is to display the image of the new American family hoping that, in doing so, we will succeed in making the readers realize the fact that human relationships, especially the ones within the family, need to be re-established on a deeper and more meaningful level.

The passing of time, the development of technologies and services and the emancipation of women are just some of the elements that have brought their contribution to the shaping of the new American family. In the modern American family, everything has suffered immense transformations, starting with the role reversal between the husband and wife and ending with the altered relationships with the other members of the family. The American home has become just a simple house, a space in which love, affection, mutual respect, comfort, and security are no longer its attributes. The home is not a shelter anymore, but a hiding place; a place in which the spouses, who have grown so accustomed to each other that they have nothing else to talk about, choose to live their meaningless lives, waiting for the final moment of existence-death. One such couple, who fears and denies reality and tries to escape into the comfortable world of illusion, is the one Edward Albee presents in A Delicate Balance. The present paper aims at awakening the readers' consciousness regarding their condition as human beings "trapped" in an absurd world, the purpose being that of bringing forth the social function of the Theatre of the Absurd.

Terms like "anguish", "void", "dehumanization", "estrangement" and "nothingness" have become, if not household words, at least basic to the jargon of the literature that describes socioeconomic realities. Twentieth century American drama is highly preoccupied with the impact of material life on the individual. It describes the amount of fissure and the damaging cracks in the US family due to the consumerist tradition. Edward Albee's The American Dream is glaring example of what might be called a textbook case of the response of the American drama to this existential vacuum. This article offers a Baudrillardian reading of Albee's magnum opus. Considering materialism as the hyper-real which substitutes the real values, the aim of this scrutiny is to highlight its negative effects on family, society, and the American dream.

This article analyses several Holocaust stories from the first English translation of Israeli writer Savyon Liebrecht's work. A child of survivors, Liebrecht's collection examines the lingering echoes of the Holocaust in Israel, its effect on the children of survivors and the sometimes bizarre behaviour of those parents. Setting her tales within families, Liebrecht's tales also describe the conflict that results from the insensitivity of the second and third generation, which seek to silence those who need to tell of their mind numbing experiences in the camps and the tragic consequences of this lack of understanding. And on one occasion, Liebrecht enters the concentrationary universe to depict the sexual exploitation and killing of Jewish girls by German soldiers.

This article analyses several Holocaust stories from the first English translation of Israeli writer Savyon Liebrecht's work. A child of survivors, Liebrecht's collection examines the lingering echoes of the Holocaust in Israel, its effect on the children of survivors and the sometimes bizarre behaviour of those parents. Setting her tales within families, Liebrecht's tales also describe the conflict that results from the insensitivity of the second and third generation, which seek to silence those who need to tell of their mind numbing experiences in the camps and the tragic consequences of this lack of understanding. And on one occasion, Liebrecht enters the concentrationary universe to depict the sexual exploitation and killing of Jewish girls by German soldiers.

The illusion of independent agency (IIA) occurs when a fictional character is experienced by the person who created it as having independent thoughts, words, and/or actions. Children often report this sort of independence in their descriptions of imaginary companions. This study investigated the extent that adult writers experience IIA with the characters they create for their works of fiction. Fifty fiction writers were interviewed about the development of their characters and their memories for childhood imaginary companions. Ninety-two percent of the writers reported at least some experience of IIA. The writers who had published their work had more frequent and detailed reports of IIA, suggesting that the illusion could be related to expertise. As a group, the writers scored higher than population norms in empathy, dissociation, and memories for childhood imaginary companions.

The illusion of independent agency (IIA) occurs when a fictional character is experienced by the person who created it as having independent thoughts, words, and/or actions. Children often report this sort of independence in their descriptions of imaginary companions. This study investigated the extent that adult writers experience IIA with the characters they create for their works of fiction. Fifty fiction writers were interviewed about the development of their characters and their memories for childhood imaginary companions. Ninety-two percent of the writers reported at least some experience of IIA. The writers who had published their work had more frequent and detailed reports of IIA, suggesting that the illusion could be related to expertise. As a group, the writers scored higher than population norms in empathy, dissociation, and memories for childhood imaginary companions.

The post-world war II American social and cultural setting was ambiguously featured with enforced conformity in the name of prosperity and Americanization of the nation. Despite of this fact, American writers, especially, dramatists conveyed their message against this fixation through variety and intellectuality. Edward Albee's The Zoo Story is one of those literary assets which dedicatedly cut through the illusions of contemporary American social and cultural ethos. Here, his characters are seen struggling constantly with their insecurities and existential angst in the society. He presents America, the so-called 'Land of Free and Home of Braves' (note 1), in such a portrayal that unveils the traps of cages and confinement underneath. The target of this paper is to trace Edward Albee's heightened awareness about the postwar American socio-cultural reality evident in The Zoo Story. It also looks for the voice in which the text echoes out the anti-communist, materialistic, gender-coded boundaries, coupled with paradoxical media representations, religious bordering and how Albee challenges these issues with an anti-establishment tone.

The passing of time, the development of technologies and services and the emancipation of women are just some of the elements that have brought their contribution to the shaping of the new American family. In the modern American family, everything has suffered immense transformations, starting with the role reversal between the husband and wife and ending with the altered relationships with the other members of the family. The American home has become just a simple house, a space in which love, affection, mutual respect, comfort, and security are no longer its attributes. The home is not a shelter anymore, but a hiding place; a place in which the spouses, who have grown so accustomed to each other that they have nothing else to talk about, choose to live their meaningless lives, waiting for the final moment of existence – death. One such couple, who fears and denies reality and tries to escape into the comfortable world of illusion, is the one Edward Albee presents in A Delicate Bal...

The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to make the readers acquainted with the realities of the twentieth century American family, as perceived by the two American playwrights, and, on the other hand, to underline the unusual phenomena that have been brought by the changing dynamics of the family relationships. All the five plays under discussion-All Over, A Delicate Balance, The American Dream, The Sandbox by Edward Albee, and Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad by Arthur Kopit-present situations in which the female characters seem to have become the leader, taking the place of the head of the family, of the pater familias. They stop acting like loving mothers and wives, they forget to take care of their families; instead, they lock away their hearts and assume the part of some sort of tyrant: they control everyone and everything in the house, their word being the equivalent of a rule. The female characters are endowed with masculine traits, whereas the male characters are emasculated, effeminate, deprived of any kind of power. The purpose of the paper is to demystify the myth of the ideal, perfect American family, to make the readers realize that the image that has been presented to the non-American public is, in the twentieth century, nothing but a disguise. Our goal is to display the image of the new American family hoping that, in doing so, we will succeed in making the readers realize the fact that human relationships, especially the ones within the family, need to be re-established on a deeper and more meaningful level.

Ameri čki redatelj Steven Kent režirao je na sceni HNK 1997. godine Tramvaj zvan žudnja Tennessee Williamsa a Smrt trgovačkog putnika Arthura Millera 1998. godine. Dolazak u Hrvatsku Do ovoga hrvatskog iskustva radio sam po Europi isključivo s engleskim glumcima, odnosno na engleskom jeziku, predstave koje su bile nekom vrstom koprodukcija nekoliko gradova. Na primjer dvije turneje s Josephom Chaikinom, mojim dragim prijateljem-Beckettovi Texts of Nothing i Shepardov War in Heaven nastao upravo za Chaikina nakon njegova moždanog udara. Ovo je bilo moje prvo iskustvo raditi u zemlji koju ne znam i na jeziku koji ne znam. Kao "političko biće" imao sam neke osnovne informacije o tome što se ovdje događa, ali sam uvijek bio iznenađen malobrojnošću informacija dostupnih Amerikancima. Tako da sam bio zabrinut, nisam znao u što idem. Počelo je gotovo u šali. Paro i ja se znamo godinama, obojica gostujemo kao profesori na University LaVerne u Južnoj Kaliforniji na poziv Davida Flatena koji je pročelnik Drame na tom Sveučilištu. Kad su se u siječnju 1996. naši boravci poklopili, Paro mi je rekao: Zašto ne bi došao reži rati u moj teatar. Mislio sam d a je to više ljubaznost, onako formalnost, pa sam prihvatio igru i rekao OK, a Paro me zamolio da napravim listu klasičnih američkih komada koje sam oduvijek želio raditi. Na popisu su bili Tramvaj zvan žudnja, Smrt trgovačkog putnika, Dugo putovanje u noć, M ale lisice, Anđeli u Americi... Odabrao je s vrha liste-Tramvaj-i rekao: Dobro, što misliš o siječnju 1997? Tek sam na povratku kući, u automobilu usred autoputa, shvatio što je moje OK kao odgovor na njegov prijedlog značilo.

THERE IS LITTLE IN EDWARD ALBEE'S PLAY(S) Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse—Tung that obviously conforms to even an expressionistically liberal definition of "normal" drama. Such things as plot, character, setting, dramatic conflict, dialogue hardly exist in any conventional sense. In Box there is only the stark outline of a large cube and the epithets from a disembodied female voice. The set directions for Chairman Mao specify "the deck of an ocean liner," but the outline cube from Box also remains present throughout. Of the four characters in Chairman Mao, one — the Minister — never speaks, and the others utter interleaved but essentially independent monologues. Part way through the play the Voice from Box begins to be heard as well and; like a reprise, lines from Box end the play(s).

We scrutinize the mirrored and complementary interspecific relationship between animality and humanity in the construction of the characters, considering that in each text there is a distinct dialogue between humans and non-human animals through the gaze. We also explore how fiction is presented as a form of bioprospective speculation, allowing readers to reconsider their animal condition and dismantle the speciesism built into Western thought. Based on the analysis, we will argue that the zoo can actually be read as a metaphor for life since, in both texts, there is social control through power relations and inversion between animals and humans through the gaze, that is, through empathy.

The illusion of independent agency (IIA) occurs when a fictional character is experienced by the person who created it as having independent thoughts, words, and/or actions. Children often report this sort of independence in their descriptions of imaginary companions. This study investigated the extent that adult writers experience IIA with the characters they create for their works of fiction. Fifty fiction writers were interviewed about the development of their characters and their memories for childhood imaginary companions. Ninety-two percent of the writers reported at least some experience of IIA. The writers who had published their work had more frequent and detailed reports of IIA, suggesting that the illusion could be related to expertise. As a group, the writers scored higher than population norms in empathy, dissociation, and memories for childhood imaginary companions.

Raum ist eine zentrale ästhetische Kategorie. Ästhetische Objekte verorten sich in einem Raum, sie nehmen Raum ein und konstituieren diesen als einen Raum ästhetischer Erfahrung. Obwohl nicht notwendigerweise allein auf ästhetische Erfahrung angelegt, findet Kunst häufig in Räumen statt, die eigens für ihre Präsentation geschaffen wurden. Wenn heute Filme im Museum oder Installationen im Theater präsentiert werden, wenn Konzerte in einer Galerie oder choreographierte Walks im urbanen Raum stattfinden, so wird nicht nur die Relation zwischen den Künsten, sondern auch das Verhältnis von Kunst, Raum und ästhetischer Erfahrung auf neue Weisen ausgelotet. Dass Kunst stets einen Raum konstituiert und dabei Erfahrungen ‚einräumt' 1-ganz unabhängig des Ortes und davon, ob es sich um eine Skulptur, einen Roman, ein Musikstück oder eine Theaterinszenierung handelt-, dürfte heute zum Selbstverständnis der Kunstschaffenden ebenso gehören wie zur Erwartungshaltung ihrer Rezipienten. Was aber ist gemeint, wenn es in diesem Band um "Erfahrungsräume der Kunst" geht? Handelt es sich um Räumlichkeiten, die darauf hin angelegt sind, dass wir in ihnen bestimmte kunstbezogene Erfahrungen machen? 2 Wenn ja, inwiefern spielen institutionelle Räume wie das Theater oder das Museum, der Konzert-oder Kinosaal dabei nach wie vor eine tragende Rolle? Bezieht sich der Begriff des Erfahrungsraums ausschließlich auf von Künstlern errichtete räumliche Anordnungen und Konstruktionen, z.B. auf Installationen, Architekturen oder Bühnenbilder? Gehören Klangerzeugnisse auch dazu, die akustische Reichweite einer musikalischen Aufführung etwa? Oder schließt der Begriff ebenso Repräsentationen von Räumen ein, die nicht real betreten werden können, wie sie die Literatur, der Film oder die Malerei hervorbringen? Ist es überhaupt plausibel, "Erfahrungsräume der Kunst" als Sammelbegriff für eine bestimmte Art künstlerisch oder institutionell