Howard Barker's 'Arguments pour un théâtre' Challenges Enlightenment Legacy
Yan Ciret reviews Howard Barker's 'Arguments pour un théâtre', a collection of texts that interrogate the Enlightenment's legacy of transparency in theater. Barker argues that the Enlightenment's emphasis on light and clarity has led to a democratic totalitarianism that suppresses dark desires. He engages with Roland Barthes's notion of a 'sextual' theater, where the body's jouissance and melancholy take precedence over Brechtian distance. Barker's theater is tragic, Dionysian, and anti-humanist, rejecting the audience's comfort to provoke unease and obscenity. The book includes studies on Caravaggio's decollations and Homer's Iliad, exploring how tragedy has been absented from Western culture. Published by Éditions Les Solitaires Intempestifs.
Key facts
- Howard Barker's 'Arguments pour un théâtre' is published by Éditions Les Solitaires Intempestifs.
- The book critiques the Enlightenment's concept of transparency in theater.
- Barker engages with Roland Barthes's idea of a 'sextual' theater.
- Barker argues that democracy has become totalitarian and populist, suppressing dark desires.
- The book explores a tragic, Dionysian theater that Europe has renounced.
- Barker's theater is anti-humanist and rejects the audience's comfort.
- The book includes studies on Caravaggio and Homer's Iliad.
- The review is written by Yan Ciret.
Entities
Artists
- Howard Barker
- Roland Barthes
- Caravaggio
- Homer
- Yan Ciret
Institutions
- Éditions Les Solitaires Intempestifs
Sources
- artpress —