Strindberg's cosmic theatre: Theosophical impact and the theatrical metaphor.
Item
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Title
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Strindberg's cosmic theatre: Theosophical impact and the theatrical metaphor.
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Identifier
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AAI9808011
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identifier
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9808011
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Creator
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Szalczer, Eszter.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Harry G. Carlson
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Date
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1997
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater | Literature, Germanic | Literature, Comparative
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Abstract
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The dissertation explores connections between the theosophical interests and the dramatic-theatrical innovations of August Strindberg (1849-1912). Nineteenth-century theosophy is regarded as an inspirational model for a cosmic theatre that Strindberg developed from about 1890. The term cosmic theatre implies the theatricalizaton of all facets and areas of existence and the world process, from the realms of nature to society and the human psyche. The theatre becomes a metaphor of the human condition and an organizing principle in Strindberg's universe.;Starting out from a larger context, chapter one provides an overview of occult tendencies that impacted modernist developments of turn-of-the-century European drama and theatre. Chapter two positions theosophy within late-nineteenth-century occultism and gives an outline of the theosophical thought system as it appeared in Strindberg's time, including the theatrical features in the cosmology. Chapter three investigates evidence of Strindberg's contacts with theosophists and his readings in theosophical literature from the 1880s to his death in 1912. Chapter four traces the impact of these contacts in Strindberg's literary works (prose and drama), by reviewing theosophist characters and theosophical motifs, themes, and imagery appearing in them. The final three chapters explore Strindberg's cosmic theatre as it evolves from his essays on nature, his novels, and plays written between 1890 and 1909. The analyses focus on poetic techniques that theatricalize the world and the self, and on the structural, aesthetic, and philosophical qualities of the theatre arising from the texts. The conclusion discusses implications of Strindberg's cosmic theatre in terms of modernism.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
