Meineck Theatrocracy

Greek Drama, Cognition, and the Imperative for Theatre
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-1-315-46655-2
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 238 Seiten

Theatrocracy is a book about the power of the theatre, how it can affect the people who experience it, and the societies within which it is embedded. It takes as its model the earliest theatrical form we possess complete plays from, the classical Greek theatre of the fifth century BCE, and offers a new approach to understanding how ancient drama operated in performance and became such an influential social, cultural and political force, inspiring and being influenced by revolutionary developments in political engagement and citizen discourse. Key performative elements of Greek theatre are analysed from the perspective of the cognitive sciences as embodied, live, enacted events, with new approaches to narrative, space, masks, movement, music, words, emotions, and empathy. This groundbreaking study combines research from the fields of the affective sciences – the study of human emotions - including cognitive theory, neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, psychiatry and cognitive archaeology, with classical, theatre and performance studies.

This book revisits what Plato found so unsettling about drama – its ability to produce a theatrocracy – a "government" of spectators, and argue that this was not a negative but an essential element of Athenian theatre. It shows that Athenian drama provided a place of alterity where audiences were exposed to different viewpoints and radical perspectives. This was, and is, vital in a freethinking democratic society where people are expected to vote on matters of state. In order to achieve this the theatre offered a dissociative and absorbing experience that enhanced emotionality, deepened understanding and promoted empathy. There was, and still is, an urgent imperative for theatre.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Meineck, Peter

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Introduction – Theatre as Mimetic Mind

Chapter One – Muthos: Probability and Prediction

Chapter Two – Opsis: The Embodied View

Chapter Three – Ethos: The Character of catharsis

Chapter Four – Dianoia: Intention in Action

Chapter Five - Melos: Music and the Mind

Chapter Six: Lexis: Somatosensory Words

Chapter Seven: Metabasis – Dissociation and Democracy

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Peter Meineck is Professor of Classics in the Modern World at New York University, USA. He founded Aquila Theatre in 1991 and has since produced and directed over 50 professional classical theatre works. He has also directed several National Endowment for the Humanities classics based public programs, including the Chairman’s Special Award winning Ancient Greeks/Modern Lives and The Warrior Chorus national veteran’s program.