Description
Book SynopsisWhat distinguishes modern tragedy from other forms of drama? How does it relate to contemporary political and social conditions? To what ends have artists employed the tragic form in different locations during the 20th century? Partly motivated by the urgency of our current situation in an age of ecocidal crisis,
Modern Tragedy encompasses a variety of drama from throughout the 20th century. James Moran begins this book with John Millington Synge's
Riders to the Sea (1904), which shows how environmental awareness might be expressed through tragic drama. Moran also looks at Brecht's reworking of Synge's drama in the 1937 play
Señora Carrar's Rifles, and situates Brecht''s script in the light of the theatre practitioner's broader ideas about tragedy. Brecht's tragic thinking informed by Hegel and Marx is contrasted with the Schopenhauerian approach of Samuel Beckett. The volume goes on to examine theatre makers whose ideas were partly motivated by applying an unde
Trade ReviewTaking his cue from Raymond Williams' landmark
Modern Tragedy (1966), James Moran updates our understanding of 20th-century tragic drama to speak to contemporary concerns about politics, decolonisation and the climate emergency. An admirably clear and engaging argument for the continuing relevance of an age-old theatrical tradition. * Jennifer Wallace, University of Cambridge, UK, and author of Tragedy Since 9/11 *
Table of ContentsSeries Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Does Modern Tragedy Exist? 1. From 1904: Synge and the Nature Elegy 2. From 1937: Brecht and Political Engagement 3. From 1954: Walcott, Clark and the Postcolonial Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
