U kontekstu analize dramske radnje glazbeno–scenskoga djela Misa, kazališni komad za pjevače, svirače i plesače Leonarda Bernsteina, razmatranja razloga proturječnih tumačenja te propitivanja ...postojanja elemenata svetogrđa i umjetničke vrijednosti toga djela — članak promišlja razumijevanje umjetnosti, kriterije tumačenja umjetničkoga djela, pitanje odnosa stvaranja i destrukcije, kao i dekadencije i kiča u umjetnosti. Putem različitih glazbenih stilova i provokativnoga dijaloga, koji uvelike prelazi okvire teksta katoličkoga bogoslužja, u raspletu dramske radnje Bernsteinova Misa dovodi protagoniste do katarze. Unatoč krizi povjerenja u svjetovne i vjerske autoritete i institucije te dubokoj moralnoj krizi američkoga društva 70–ih godina 20. stoljeća, koja je do danas dosegnula globalne razmjere, Bernstein ne gubi nadu i vjeru u mogućnost pročišćenja i pozitivne promjene svijesti pojedinca i društva.
This paper analyses a musical theatre piece by Leonard Bernstein titled, »Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers«. Aside from an analysis of the dramatic content of the »Mass«, the paper discusses some general aesthetic and artistic criteria, the reasons for contradictory interpretations of the piece, the presence of sacrilegious features, the justification of the presence of elements that ironize some features of religious life, the artistic value of the piece, criteria for evaluating art and the use of elements with shock value. Through various musical styles and a provocative dialogue that goes beyond the framework of Catholic liturgy, »Mass« leads the protagonists to a catharsis in the dramatic unfolding of the action. With the help of cathartic elements, called »elements of the cross«, there develops a compositional about–turn in the direction of nothingness, such that the possibilities of human choice are more clearly delineated. The intent of the work, evident in the synthesis, was to show that Bernstein’s artistic treatment of potentially sacrilegious and ironic elements is justified as artistic expression, i.e., the truth was transcended by means of these features and through artistic expression. By combining atheistic views with artistic persuasiveness, Bernstein pointed to the crisis of faith in the USA in the 1970’s. Despite this crisis, he loses neither hope nor faith in the possibility of purification and a positive change in the individual’s consciousness and that of society.
U radu je izložen Plotinov nauk o duši kao izvoru lijepog. Plotinovi stavovi o ljepoti i umjetnosti nisu samostalna cjelina, nego se mogu razumjeti tek u kontekstu njegove metafizike i etike, te je ...zbog toga nezgodno govoriti o Plotinovoj estetici kao takvoj. Iz tog razloga autor će iznijeti i tematizirati neke temeljne pojmove Plotinove filozofije poput pojma Jednog, katarze i duše i to s ciljem prikaza Plotinovog nauka o lijepom kao nužnoj poveznici bez koje su ostali segmenti Plotinove filozofije nemogući, naime postizanje katarze putem lijepe duše.
Grško gledališče izhaja iz rituala, ki je na prikrit način ohranjen v nekaterih herojskih tragedijah, uveljavi pa tudi institut katarze, ki nas vrne v območje prvotno ritualnega in s tem ...predtragičnega.
Cilj je ovoga rada pokazati da recepcija suvremene biografske američke drame Izlazak sunca na Campobellu autora Dorea Scharyja djeluje katarzično (biblioterapijski) na suvremene recipijente.
...Biblioterapija je poznata kao sociološka metoda „liječenja čitanjem”, a na temelju provedenog istraživanja utvrđeno je da su osnovni elementi drame Izlazak sunca na Campobellu, poput univerzalnih tema, situacija i likova, kompatibilni s ključnim ciljevima biblioterapije: identifikacijom, projekcijom, katarzom i uvidom.
Istraživanje je provedeno anketiranjem 30 recipijenata podijeljenih na čitatelje i gledatelje spomenute drame, odnosno njene filmske adaptacije. Ovaj rad, osim opisa ključnih teorijskih pojmova katarze i biblioterapije, pruža i opis metodologije rabljene u istraživanju kao i rezultate.
Kraj 20. i početak 21. stoljeća zabilježio je pojavu novih trendova na scenama vodećih europskih kazališta koja su se, pod krinkom minimalizma i umjetničke sofisticiranosti, postupno „riješila“ svih ...dramskih elemenata koji su povezivali kazalište s publikom. Sve je počelo s epskim kazalištem koje je osudilo emocionalnu identifikaciju publike s likovima iz drama, a slijedilo je
kazalište apsurda koje je predstavilo potpuno nerealan svijet i likove nalik karikaturama, s kojim se publika nije mogla identificirati. Posljednje je stiglo in-yer-face kazalište, popularizirajući negativne emocije i likove, pod izgovorom da prikazuje težak i besmislen svakodnevni ljudski život koji treba kritizirati. S druge strane, američko kazalište glavne struje nastavilo je funkcionirati slijedeći osnovne postavke realizma i u 21. stoljeću, promovirajući pozitivne emocije, pozitivne likove i katarzu. Usporedba europskog s američkim suvremenim kazalištem rezultirala je hipotezom prema kojoj suvremene auto/biografske američke drame imaju katarzičan učinak na publiku, čemu uvelike doprinosi i činjenica da istina ispričana u takvim dramama omogućuje publici da se lakše identificira s njihovim likovima. Kao rezultat toga, publika može otpustiti neke svoje potisnute emocije i doživjeti katarzu.
Doktorski rad sastoji se od sedam dijelova: 1) Uvod, 2) Teorija, 3) Metodologija, 4) Rasprava i rezultati, 5) Zaključak, 6) Literatura i 7) Prilog 1.
Svrha istraživanja bila je ispitati hipotezu teorijski i empirijski, te smo stoga anketirali recipijente o njihovim reakcijama na osam suvremenih auto/biografskih američkih drama. Recipijenti, ukupno 30 njih, bili su podijeljeni u dvije skupine: čitatelje i gledatelje. Za analizu smo odabrali sljedeće drame i njihove filmske adaptacije: Jan Van Druten, Sjećam se Mame (1944); Dore Schary, Izlazak sunca na Campobellu (1958); William Gibson, Čudotvorka (1959); William Gibson, Leptiri su slobodni (1969); Beth Henly, Zločini srca (1979), Neil Simon, Sjećanje na Brighton Beach (1983), Robert Harling, Čelične Magnolije (1987) i David Auburn Dokaz (2001).
Nakon uvoda, razvili smo teorijski okvir koji je, osim različitih teorijskih razmatranja o katarzi, također uključio poglavlja o auto/biografiji, suvremenoj auto/biografskoj američkoj drami i teorijama recepcije. U drugom dijelu, ili metodologiji, opisana je i obrazložena anketa, te instrumenti i načini na koje su rezultati ankete bili analizirani. U trećem dijelu predstavili smo rezultate, te smo ih kvantitativno i kvalitativno analizirali. Nakon poglavlja s rezultatima i raspravom slijedio je zaključak, potom dodatak, te popis literature.
Doctoral thesis entitled ''Cathartic effects of contemporary auto/biographical American drama'' has four main chapters: Introduction, Theory, Methodology, Discussion and Results, and Conclusion. The author states her thesis in the introduction, arguing that plots of contemporary auto/biographical American plays, since they are traditionally structured and implicitly clarify their protagonists' psychological motivation, have cathartic effects on the 21st century European recipients. As Puškar Mustafić observes, there was a shift in the European theatrical trends throughout the 20th century, that could be described as a rebellion against the established theatrical tradition. It manifested in the practices of mainstream European theatres that gradually disposed of all traditional theatrical conventions, such as identifiable emotions, well-made plots and characters who develop throughout the play, and consequently they also disposed of catharsis. During the 1950s, Bertolt Brecht, a German dramatist, wrote his theory of ''epic theatre''. He developed his ideas by opposing Aristotelian concepts of identification and catharsis. According to Brecht, the purpose of theatre is not to create an illusion of human life, but rather to inspire society to act and create a positive social change. In Mother Courage, Brecht’s most famous play, the character of Mother is a war opportunist who loses her children to atrocities of war. The dramatists of the theatre of absurd went one step further than Brecht, obliterating all traditional dramatic elements: a five-element plot (i.e. introduction, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution), identifiable characters and emotions. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Becket, the most famous absurd play, does not have a defined beginning, and the problem of waiting for someone named Godot is not resolved in the end. In addition, its characters (Vladimir, Estragon, Lucky and Pozzo) are portrayed as caricatures whose conversations do not make much sense. The last major departure from the traditional theatre occurred in the 1990s with a trend called in-yer-face theater. The plays of in-yer-face do not lack emotions, but they are exclusively negative. Anti-heroes and their victims live in a dark world of physically and emotionally unmotivated torture, where no perpetrator is ever truly punished. Even though the torturers become victims themselves, the purpose is to illustrate a prolonged cycle of violence with no resolution (i.e. catharsis). In many Sarah Kane’s plays (Cleansed, Phaedra’s Love, Blasted etc.), plots contain series of unexplained and unmotivated rapes, different physical tortures and incest.
These new trends of the European theater were not detected in the United States, where the mainstream theatre continued relying on the tradition of American realism. In other words, dramatists retained traditional characterization (protagonists vs. antagonists), structuring their plays around the five-element plot, addressing various issues and offering their resolutions. Therefore, the contemporary American plays continued addressing issues such as death, abuse, prejudice and physical disability, but in a traditional way. Puškar Mustafić choses to test her hypothesis of cathartic effects on recipients, using American plays and their screen adaptations. Furthermore, based on her own recipient experience of a number of contemporary American plays, she recognized that autobiographical plays have a significant influence on emotions. Narrowing down her research, Puškar Mustafić decided to include only auto/biographical plays in her research, as they exteriorize emotions more easily than other plays. The second chapter addresses four theoretical aspects relevant to the thesis statement: catharsis, reception theories, autobiography and contemporary auto/biographical American drama. The ''Catharsis'' chapter opens with Greek philosopher Aristotle who in his definition of tragedy refers to catharsis as a release of emotions of pity and fear caused by some unfortunate events. As Puškar Mustafić observes, the notion of catharsis became widely used in various sciences. For instance, in psychology and medicine catharsis translates as cleansing, religious sciences translate it as purification and one of the philosophical approaches discusses it in terms of intellectual clarification. However, although various sciences offer different approaches to the interpretation of catharsis, they eventually overlap regarding the essence of catharsis that is, they define it as an emotional relief achieved by balancing of unbalanced and unreleased emotions. Narrowing down her definition, Puškar Mustafić refers to Cynthia A. Freeland's research who argues that theoreticians usually approach catharsis in two major ways. Jonathan Lear et al. believe that catharsis is predominantly an emotional experience. In other words, by being provided with the opportunity to experience various emotions in a safe environment, that is theatre, the audience can balance its unbalanced emotions and experience catharsis. The other group of theoreticians, such as Martha Nussbaum, approach catharsis from a cognitive perspective, arguing that catharsis evolves as a result of a learning pleasure. They claim that learning something about ourselves, others or life in general is the primary pleasure of drama. The author tests her Ph.D. thesis on two groups of thirty recipients by having them read or watch screen versions of a selection of eight auto/biographical American plays and fill out a survey questionnaire. For this reason, the second theoretical chapter reviewed major reception theories, whose informal development started with writings of Roman Ingarden and Jan Mukařovský.
They recognized the role of a reader in the creation of a literary work meaning.Following their stream of thought, Hans R. Jauss founded a school of reception theory, introducing the term reception into the broader academic community. Some of his colleagues, including Wolfgang Iser, joined his school. Terms such as collective horizon of expectations and blank spaces in texts supported the theory of the author-reader partnership in the creation of a literary work's meaning. Jauss' theories were opposed in the late 1960s. Stanley Fish and Ronald Barthes considered a reader to be a paradigm of meaning, whereas Michel Foucault promoted the idea of text's superiority over the author. In her research, Puškar Mustafić relied on Jauss' and Iser's theories. The following chapter explores the definitions of autobiography genre throughout history. Puškar Mustafić reviews George Gusdorf's and Philippe Lejeune's theories and arrives at autobiography's general definition: an autobiography is a story an author writes about him/herself. She also refers to Helena Sablić Tomić and uses her classification of autobiography (autobiography, pseudo autobiography and biography), adapting it to drama because autobiography in its essence is a prose genre. The next chapter, ''Contemporary Auto/biographical Drama'', presents the analysis of eight contemporary auto/biographical American plays and their screen adaptations dating from 1944 to 2001. The selected plays317, apart from being aut/biographical, belong to the mainstream American theatre. This implies that they either recieved one of the prestigious