Dramatic theory attempts to form theories about theatre and drama. Drama is defined as a form of art in which a written play is used as basis for a performance.[1]: 63 Dramatic theory is studied as part of theatre studies.[2]
Drama creates a sensory impression in its viewers during the performance. This is the main difference from both poetry and epics, which evoke imagination in the reader.[1]: 63 [3]: 202–203
Dramatic theory was already discussed in the Antiquities p.e. by Aristotle (Poetics) in Ancient Greek and Bharata Muni (Natyasastra) in Ancient India. Some tried to systematize existent plays based on common traits or to justify them compared to other types of plays. Others created schemes for future plays for them to accomplish political or ethical aims or simply as a guide to create good plays.
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Modern dramatic theory is based on the idea that drama is a plurimedial form of art. Therefore, a drama cannot be completely comprehended from the text alone. Understanding requires the combination of the text as a substrate and the specific performance of the play. Older theories saw the performance as limited to the interpretation of the text.[1]: 63–64 [3]: 203–204
Term
In the Antiquities and again from the Renaissance to 1900 drama was the most prestigious form of literature. It was then replaced by epics based on the commercial success of novels. There was constant discussion about the reasons of this prestige and about the differences for drama and other forms of literature. Dramatic theory tried to connect the literary quality of a play with its social standing, especially when it comes to the traditional difference between tragedies and comedies. In the 18th century, the commercial success started to be the reason for a positive or negative assessment of a specific drama. In this context, popular theater, which was privately organized for commercial purposes, started to diverge from the state theaters.
Rivalry between opera and acting also played a role in dramatic theory from the 17th to the 19th century. Depending on the author, opera or acting was coined the real drama. From the 19th century on, movies were included in dramatic theory as a contemporary alternative to live acting (see Film theory).
In the dramatic theory of the last decades, it was popular to see theater as more than just drama (see Performative utterance, Postdramatic theatre). At the end of the 20th century, dramatic theory lost its political and social importance to media theory.
At the beginning of the 20th century, dramatic theory turned from a prescriptive doctrine to a descriptive discipline, analyzing the regularities of dramas.[1]: 64–65
Antiquities
Aristotle
The Greek philosopher Plato rejected all types of fictional literature as dangerous for the state in his work Politeia. As drama was politically and religiously important in Athene, his pupil Aristotle (384–322 BC) tried to justify drama in his Poetics. The surviving part of his work deals with tragedies, which according to him brought the better people to the stage than comedies. His thoughts on comedies are not known.
Unlike epics, tragedies should emulate real actions ("mimesis") in direct speech while the action itself is acted out. It is not limited to describing the characters. It should not be something static or purely narrating but dynamically showing the plot. The scenic performance of a tragic plot should provoke lamenting ("eleos") and shuddering ("phobos") in the viewer. Aristotle sees this as desirable, as the discharge of pent-up tensions results in a cleansing from strong affects ("catharsis") leading to inner welfare ("eudamonia").[1]: 64 Thus, theater is helping to maintain public morals instead of destroying them as Plato claimed.[4]
He postulated the unity of time (ends within 24 hours) and plot (not many side stories as in epics). It should feature a finished plot, comprising a beginning, a main part and an end. Later scholars added the unity of space which is not based on Aristotle (Classical unities).[5]
Further terms that are derived from Aristotle's Poetics are the recognition in the climax (anagnorisis) and peripety, the sudden change from fortune to the catastrophe following the climax.
Until the 20th century, many authors tried to legitimize their plays with it being in accordance with the criteria postulated by Aristotle. Even today, most dramatic theories are based on the thoughts of Aristotle.[6] Nonetheless, there are various types of drama which do not conform to Aristotle's theory nor any other dramatic theory.
Horace
The Roman poet Horace (65–8 BC) writes about drama in his Ars poetica in a time when drama lost the religious dimension the Greeks gave it. Horace wrote that drama needs to connect entertainment and its purpose.[7] Comedies were a common form of entertainment in Rome, while tragedies were somewhat more restricted to events of the upper classes.[8] Therefore, Horace postulated that tragedies had a higher social and artistic value than comedies. This contrasts Aristotle's view that there are only good and bad characters and plots. Horace' view is much discussed in modern times.
Source: Wikipedia
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