Course Description
Departing from Artaud’s theory and practice of the Theatre of Cruelty, this course is designed to investigate the performance of fear and cruelty in theatre and the performance as a disenchanting ritual. Artaud’s insistence on representing violence and cruelty onstage points to a metaphysical quest of an alternative origin of life force and a collective catharsis of cultural degradation. However, Artaud’s theatrical violence has often been misunderstood as merely physical violence presenting bloodshedding and ferocious scenes. According to Derrida, although Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty turned out to be a failed project, his elevation of the corporal presence over the written language convulses the traditional Western theatre and heralds an alternative signifying system with the corporal body as hieroglyphic signifiers. On the other hand, Artaud’s effort to represent the quality of the subconscious in theatre suggests a potential alliance between his theory and Freudian theory. Although Artaud abhorred psychoanalytic treatment in his lifetime, psychoanalytic theory can still help illuminate the desire and drive circulating in his writing. In short, how the performance of physical violence may induce a metaphysical catharsis will be the issue central to our investigation of Artaudian theatre. By employing Derridean and psychoanalytic theories, we are going to evaluate the influence of Artaudian signification on his succeeding thinkers and practitioners.