What is drama. Theoretical foundations for the study of drama From the history of drama
Definition 1
Drama is one of the genres of literature, which simultaneously belongs to two types of art - theater and literature.
The concept of drama, its specific features
The word "drama" in Greek means "action". Drama is meant to be played on stage. Formally, this kind of literature differs from lyrics and epic in that in drama the text is presented in the form of the author's remarks and replicas of characters and is usually divided into phenomena and actions. Drama refers to any work built in the form of a dialogue, including tragedy, comedy, farce, vaudeville, drama (as a genre), etc.
Drama has existed among various peoples in literary or folklore form since ancient times. The ancient Greeks, ancient Chinese, Indians, Indians, and Japanese independently created their dramatic traditions.
The specificity of drama as a kind of literature is a special organization of artistic speech. In the drama, unlike the epic, there is no narration, and the direct speech of the characters, their monologues and dialogues are of paramount importance. Drama features are:
- Lack of a narrative-descriptive image
- The text of the work is presented in the form of a monologue and dialogue of characters
- The author's speech is auxiliary
- The main means of creating a character image are action and speech.
- The amount of time of action and the amount of text is limited by the stage framework
- Theatrical showiness, exaggeration of feelings and expressions, dictated by the requirements of theatrics.
Traditionally, the scheme of any dramatic work consists of:
- Expositions - representations of actors
- Ties
- Action development
- climaxes
- Interchanges.
The history of the drama
The drama takes its origins in primitive poetry, in which elements of epic, lyricism and drama have merged in connection with mimic movements and music. Drama, as a special kind of poetry, was the first to form among the Greeks and Hindus.
Greek drama, in which serious religious and mythological plots were developed - tragedy, and comedy - funny plots taken from modern life, reaches the highest perfection and in the 16th century becomes a model of European drama. Up to this point, European drama artlessly handled religious and secular subjects - sideshows, mysteries, fastnachtspiel, etc.
French playwrights imitated the Greeks and strictly adhered to certain provisions that were considered invariable for the aesthetic merit of the drama. These provisions are:
- Unity of place and time
- The duration of the episode depicted on the stage should not be more than a day
- Location must not change
- The development of the drama takes place in 3-5 acts
- Limited number of actors, usually three to five
- The actors are exclusively representatives of the elite of society and their closest servants.
In comedies, the strictness of the requirements of the classical style was observed less. Comedy gradually moved from conventionality to the depiction of ordinary life. Shakespeare's work, free from classical conventions, has opened up completely new ways of development for the drama. At the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century, romantic and national dramas appeared, presented by Schiller, Lessing, Hugo, Goethe, Grabbe, Kleist.
In the second half of the 19th century, realism prevailed in European drama. The most famous representatives of this period are Ibsen, Dumas son, Sardou, Ogier, Suderman and others.
At the end of the 19th century, under the influence of Maeterlinck and Ibsen, symbolism became popular on the European stage.
Drama types
Definition 2
Tragedy is a genre of literary and artistic work intended to be staged, in which the plot leads the characters to a tragic outcome.
In tragedy, reality is depicted most pointedly, the deepest conflicts of reality are revealed in an extremely rich and intense form. Most of tragedies are written in verse, the works are filled with pathos, marked by severe seriousness. Comedy is the opposite of tragedy.
The genre of drama was especially widespread in the literature of the 18th-21st centuries, gradually replacing tragedy. Drama contrasts tragedy with a predominantly everyday plot and a style that is closer to everyday reality. With the advent of cinema, drama has become one of its most widespread genres. As a rule, specific dramas depict the private life of a person, his social conflicts. The emphasis is on the contradictions of a universal nature, embodied in the actions and behavior of specific characters.
Remark 1
Drama, according to B. V. Tomashevsky, displaces other genres in the 19th century, while harmonizing with the evolution of everyday and psychological novel
drama as literary genre in the history of literature is divided into several modifications. For example, bourgeois drama was popular in the 17th century, naturalistic and realistic drama was popular in the 19th century, and symbolist drama was actively developing at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 20th century, expressionist, surrealist drama, the drama of the absurd, etc. are popular. many playwrights of the 19th and 20th centuries used the word "drama" as a designation for the genre of their stage works.
Comedy is a genre of literary work that is characterized by a satirical or humorous approach; a type of drama where the moment of struggle or conflict of antagonistic characters is specifically resolved.
Remark 2
Aristotle characterized comedy as follows: “this is an imitation of the worst people, but not in all their depravity, but in a ridiculous way”
The first comedies that have survived to this day were created in Ancient Athens, the author of these comedies is Aristophanes.
There are two types of comedy - the comedy of characters and the comedy of situations.
A comedy of characters is a comedy where the source of the funny is circumstances and events.
In the comedy of characters, the source of the funny is the essence of morals, an exaggerated feature or defect, an ugly one-sidedness. Often the comedy of characters is satirical, ridicules all the negative human qualities.
which allows for short story show the conflicts of society, the feelings and relationships of the characters, reveal moral issues. Tragedy, comedy and even modern sketches are all varieties of this art that originated in ancient Greece.
Drama: a book with a complex character
In Greek, the word "drama" means "to act." Drama (definition in literature) is a work that exposes the conflict between characters. The character of the characters is revealed through actions, and the soul - through dialogues. The works of this genre have a dynamic plot, are composed through the dialogues of characters, less often - monologues or polylogues.
In the 1960s, chronicles appeared as a drama. Examples of Ostrovsky's works "Minin-Sukhoruk", "Voevoda", "Vasilisa Melentievna" are the brightest examples of this rare genre. The trilogy of Count A. K. Tolstoy: "The Death of Ivan the Terrible", "Tsar Feodor Ioannovich" and "Tsar Boris", as well as the chronicles of Chaev ("Tsar Vasily Shuisky") are distinguished by the same advantages. Crackling drama is inherent in Averkin's works: "Mamay's Massacre", "Comedy about the Russian nobleman Frol Skobeev", "Kashirskaya antiquity".
Modern dramaturgy
Today, dramaturgy continues to develop, but at the same time it is built according to all the classical laws of the genre.
In today's Russia, drama in literature is such names as Nikolai Erdman, Mikhail Chusov. As boundaries and conventions are erased, lyrical and conflict themes come to the fore, which affect Wystan Auden, Thomas Bernhard and Martin McDonagh.
Drama(ancient Greek δρμα - act, action) - one of the three types of literature, along with epic and lyrics, simultaneously belongs to two types of art: literature and theater. Intended to be played on stage, drama differs formally from epic and lyric poetry in that the text in it is presented in the form of replicas of characters and author's remarks and, as a rule, is divided into actions and phenomena. Drama is somehow related to any literary work, built in a dialogical form, including comedy, tragedy, drama (as a genre), farce, vaudeville, etc.
Since ancient times, it has existed in folklore or literary form among various peoples; independently of each other, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Indians, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Indians of America created their own dramatic traditions.
Literally translated from ancient Greek, drama means "action".
The specificity of drama as a literary genre lies in the special organization of artistic speech: unlike the epic, there is no narration in the drama, and the direct speech of the characters, their dialogues and monologues are of paramount importance.
Dramatic works are intended to be staged, this determines the specific features of the drama:
- lack of a narrative-descriptive image;
- "auxiliary" author's speech (remarks);
- the main text of the dramatic work is presented in the form of replicas of the characters (monologue and dialogue);
- drama as a kind of literature does not have such a variety of artistic and visual means as the epic: speech and deed are the main means of creating the image of the hero;
- the volume of the text and the duration of the action is limited by the stage frames;
- The requirements of stage art also dictate such a feature of the drama as a kind of exaggeration (hyperbolization): “exaggeration of events, exaggeration of feelings and exaggeration of expressions” (L.N. Tolstoy) - in other words, theatrical showiness, increased expressiveness; the viewer of the play feels the convention of what is happening, which was very well said by A.S. Pushkin: “The very essence of dramatic art excludes plausibility… when reading a poem, a novel, we can often forget ourselves and believe that the incident described is not fiction, but the truth. In an ode, in an elegy, we can think that the poet portrayed his real feelings, in real circumstances. But where is the credibility in a building divided into two parts, of which one is filled with spectators who have agreed etc.
The traditional scheme of the plot of any dramatic work:
EXPOSITION - presentation of heroes
STRING - clash
DEVELOPMENT OF ACTION - a set of scenes, the development of an idea
CULMINATION - the apogee of the conflict
DENOUNCING
Drama history
The rudiments of drama are in primitive poetry, in which the elements of lyricism, epic and drama that emerged later merged in connection with music and mimic movements. Earlier than among other peoples, drama as a special kind of poetry was formed among the Hindus and Greeks.
Greek drama, which develops serious religious and mythological plots (tragedy) and amusing ones drawn from modern life (comedy), reaches high perfection and in the 16th century is a model for European drama, which until that time artlessly processed religious and narrative secular plots (mysteries, school dramas and interludes, fastnachtspiel, sottises).
French playwrights, imitating the Greek ones, strictly adhered to certain provisions that were considered invariable for the aesthetic dignity of the drama, such are: the unity of time and place; the duration of the episode depicted on the stage should not exceed a day; the action must take place in the same place; the drama should develop correctly in 3-5 acts, from the plot (clarification of the initial position and characters of the characters) through the middle ups and downs (changes in positions and relationships) to the denouement (usually a disaster); the number of actors is very limited (usually 3 to 5); these are exclusively the highest representatives of society (kings, queens, princes and princesses) and their closest servants, confidants, who are introduced onto the stage for the convenience of dialogue and replicas. These are the main features of French classical drama (Corneille, Racine).
The strictness of the requirements of the classical style was already less respected in comedies (Molière, Lope de Vega, Beaumarchais), which gradually moved from conventionality to the depiction of ordinary life (genre). Shakespeare's work, free from classical conventions, opened new paths for drama. The end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century were marked by the appearance of romantic and national dramas: Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Hugo, Kleist, Grabbe.
In the second half of the 19th century, realism prevailed in European drama (Dumas son, Ogier, Sardou, Paleron, Ibsen, Suderman, Schnitzler, Hauptmann, Beyerlein).
In the last quarter of the 19th century, under the influence of Ibsen and Maeterlinck, symbolism began to take hold of the European scene (Hauptmann, Pshibyshevsky, Bar, D'Annunzio, Hofmannsthal).
Drama types
- Tragedy is a genre of fiction intended to be staged, in which the plot leads the characters to a catastrophic outcome. The tragedy is marked by severe seriousness, depicts reality most sharply, as a clot of internal contradictions, reveals the deepest conflicts of reality in an extremely intense and rich form, which acquires the meaning of an artistic symbol. Most tragedies are written in verse. The works are often filled with pathos. The opposite genre is comedy.
- Drama (psychological, criminal, existential) is a literary (dramatic), stage and cinematic genre. It gained particular distribution in the literature of the 18th-21st centuries, gradually replacing another genre of dramaturgy - tragedy, contrasting it with a predominantly everyday plot and a style closer to everyday reality. With the advent of cinema, he also moved into this art form, becoming one of its most common genres (see the corresponding category).
- Dramas specifically depict, as a rule, the private life of a person and his social conflicts. At the same time, the emphasis is often placed on universal human contradictions embodied in the behavior and actions of specific characters.
The concept of "drama as a genre" (different from the concept of "drama as a kind of literature") is known in Russian literary criticism. So, B. V. Tomashevsky writes:
In the XVIII century. amount<драматических>genres is increasing. Along with the strict theatrical genres, lower, "fair" genres are being promoted: Italian buffoonery comedy, vaudeville, parody, etc. These genres are the sources of modern farce, grotesque, operetta, and miniature. The comedy splits, separating from itself a “drama”, that is, a play with a modern everyday theme, but without a specific “comic” situation (“petty-bourgeois tragedy” or “tearful comedy”).<...>Drama decisively supplants other genres in the 19th century, harmonizing with the evolution of the psychological and everyday novel.
On the other hand, drama as a genre in the history of literature is divided into several separate modifications:
Thus, the 18th century was the time of petty-bourgeois drama (J. Lillo, D. Diderot, P.-O. Beaumarchais, G. E. Lessing, early F. Schiller).
In the 19th century, realistic and naturalistic drama was developed (A. N. Ostrovsky, G. Ibsen, G. Hauptman, A. Strindberg, A. P. Chekhov).
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, symbolist drama developed (M. Maeterlinck).
In the 20th century - surrealist drama, expressionist drama (F. Werfel, W. Hasenclever), the drama of the absurd (S. Beckett, E. Ionesco, E. Albee, V. Gombrowicz), etc.Many playwrights of the 19th and 20th centuries used the word "drama" as a designation for the genre of their stage works.
- Drama in verse - all the same, only in poetic form.
- Melodrama is a genre of fiction, theatrical art and cinema, the works of which reveal the spiritual and sensual world of heroes in especially vivid emotional circumstances based on contrasts: good and evil, love and hate, etc.
- Hierodrama - in France of the old order (second half of the 18th century), the name of vocal compositions for two or more voices on biblical stories.
Unlike oratorios and mysteries, hierodramas did not use the words of Latin psalms, but the texts of contemporary French poets, and they were performed not in churches, but at spiritual concerts in the Tuileries Palace. - In particular, the words of Voltaire were presented in 1780 "The Sacrifice of Abraham" (music by Cambini) and in 1783 "Samson". Impressed by the revolution, Desogier composed his cantata Hierodrama.
- Mystery is one of the genres of European medieval theater associated with religion.
- The plot of the mystery was usually taken from the Bible or the Gospel and interspersed with various everyday comic scenes. From the middle of the 15th century, mysteries began to increase in volume. The "Mystery of the Acts of the Apostles" contains more than 60,000 verses, and its presentation in Bourges in 1536 lasted, according to evidence, 40 days.
- If in Italy the mystery died naturally, then in a number of other countries it was banned during the Counter-Reformation; in particular, in France - November 17, 1548 by order of the Paris Parliament; in Protestant England in 1672 the bishop of Chester banned the mystery, and three years later the ban was repeated by the archbishop of York. In Catholic Spain, mystery performances continued until the middle of the 18th century, they were composed by Lope de Vega, and Tirso de Molina, and Calderon de la Barca, Pedro; only in 1756 they were officially banned by the decree of Charles III.
- Comedy is a genre of fiction characterized by a humorous or satirical approach, as well as a type of drama in which the moment of effective conflict or struggle of antagonistic characters is specifically resolved.
Aristotle defined comedy as "imitation of the worst people, but not in all their depravity, but in a ridiculous way" ("Poetics", ch. V). The earliest surviving comedies were created in ancient Athens and belong to the pen of Aristophanes.Distinguish situation comedy and comedy of characters.
Sitcom (situation comedy, situation comedy) is a comedy in which events and circumstances are the source of the funny.
Comedy of characters (comedy of manners) is a comedy in which the source of the funny is the inner essence of characters (mores), funny and ugly one-sidedness, an exaggerated trait or passion (vice, flaw). Very often the comedy of manners is a satirical comedy, ridicules all these human qualities. - Vaudeville- a comedy play with couplet songs and dances, as well as a genre of dramatic art. In Russia, the prototype of vaudeville was a small comic opera late XVII century, kept in the repertoire of the Russian theater and early XIX century.
- Farce- a comedy of light content with purely external comic techniques.
In the Middle Ages, a type of folk theater and literature, widespread in the 14th-16th centuries in Western European countries, was also called a farce. Having matured within the mystery, the farce acquires its independence in the 15th century, and in the next century it becomes the dominant genre in theater and literature. Techniques of farcical buffoonery have been preserved in circus clowning.
The main element of the farce was not a conscious political satire, but a laid-back and carefree depiction of urban life with all its scandalous incidents, obscenity, rudeness and fun. In the French farce, the theme of the scandal between the spouses often varied.
In modern Russian, a farce is usually called profanity, an imitation of a process, for example, a trial.
On the one hand, when working on a drama, the means that are in the writer's arsenal are used, but, on the other hand, the work should not be literary. The author describes the events in such a way that the person who will read the test can see everything that happens in his imagination. For example, instead of "they sat at the bar for a very long time" you can write "they drank six beers each", etc.
In drama, what is happening is shown not through internal reflections, but through external action. Moreover, all events take place in the present time.
Also, certain restrictions are imposed on the volume of the work, because. it must be presented on stage within the allotted time (up to a maximum of 3-4 hours).
The requirements of drama, as a stage art, leave their mark on the behavior, gestures, words of the characters, which are often exaggerated. What cannot happen in life in a few hours, in drama it can very well. At the same time, the audience will not be surprised by the conventionality, implausibility, because this genre initially allows them to a certain extent.
In the days of books that were expensive and inaccessible to many, drama (as a public performance) was the leading form of artistic reproduction of life. However, with the development of printing technology, it has lost ground to epic genres. Nevertheless, even today, dramatic works remain in demand among society. The main audience of the drama is, of course, theatergoers and moviegoers. Moreover, the number of the latter exceeds the number of readers.
Depending on the method of staging, dramatic works can be in the form of plays and scripts. All dramatic works intended to be performed from the theatrical stage are called plays (French pi èce). Dramatic works based on which films are made are scripts. Both plays and scripts contain author's notes to indicate the time and place of action, indicate age, appearance heroes, etc.
The structure of the play or script follows the structure of the story. Usually, parts of a play are designated as an act (action), a phenomenon, an episode, a picture.
The main genres of dramatic works:
- drama,
- tragedy
- comedy
- tragicomedy
- farce
- vaudeville
- sketch.
Drama
Drama is a literary work that depicts a serious conflict between actors or between actors and society. The relationship between characters (heroes and society) in works of this genre is always full of drama. In the course of the development of the plot, there is an intense struggle both within individual characters and between them.
Although the conflict is very serious in the drama, it can nevertheless be resolved. This circumstance explains the intrigue, the tense expectation of the audience: whether the hero (heroes) will be able to get out of the situation or not.
Drama is characterized by a description of the real Everyday life, the formulation of "mortal" questions of human existence, a deep disclosure of characters, inner world characters.
There are such types of drama as historical, social, philosophical. Drama is a melodrama. In it, the characters are clearly divided into positive and negative.
Widely known dramas: Othello by W. Shakespeare, At the Bottom by M. Gorky, Cat on a Hot Roof by T. Williams.
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the Greek tragos ode - “goat song”) is a literary dramatic work based on an irreconcilable life conflict. Tragedy is characterized by an intense struggle of strong characters and passions, which ends in a catastrophic outcome for the characters (usually death).
The conflict of a tragedy is usually very deep, has a universal meaning and can be symbolic. Main character, as a rule, suffers deeply (including from hopelessness), his fate is unhappy.
The text of the tragedy often sounds pathetic. Many tragedies are written in verse.
Widely known tragedies: "Chained Prometheus" by Aeschylus, "Romeo and Juliet" by W. Shakespeare, "Thunderstorm" by A. Ostrovsky.
Comedy
Comedy (from the Greek komos ode - “merry song”) is a literary dramatic work in which characters, situations and actions are presented comically, using humor and satire. At the same time, the characters can be quite sad or sad.
Usually comedy presents everything ugly and ridiculous, funny and awkward, ridicules social or domestic vices.
Comedy is subdivided into the comedy of masks, positions, characters. Also this genre includes farce, vaudeville, sideshow, sketch.
Situation comedy (comedy of situations, situational comedy) is a dramatic comedy work in which events and circumstances are the source of the funny.
A comedy of characters (comedy of manners) is a dramatic comedy work in which the source of humor is the inner essence of characters (morals), funny and ugly one-sidedness, an exaggerated trait or passion (vice, defect).
A farce is a light comedy that uses simple comic techniques and is designed for a rough taste. Usually a farce is used in a circus lunade.
Vaudeville is a light comedy with an entertaining intrigue, which has a large number of dance numbers and songs. In the US, vaudeville is called a musical. AT modern Russia it is also commonly said "musical", implying vaudeville.
An interlude is a small comic scene that is played between the actions of the main performance or performance.
Sketch (English sketch - “sketch, sketch, sketch”) is a short comedy work with two or three characters. Usually, the presentation of sketches is resorted to on the stage and television.
Widely known comedies: "The Frogs" by Aristophanes, "The Inspector General" by N. Gogol, "Woe from Wit" by A. Griboyedov.
Famous TV sketch shows: "Our Russia", "Town", "Monty Python's Flying Circus".
Tragicomedy
Tragicomedy is a literary dramatic work in which a tragic plot is depicted in a comic form or is a random jumble of tragic and comical elements. In tragicomedy, serious episodes are combined with funny ones, sublime characters are set off by comic characters. The main method of tragicomedy is the grotesque.
We can say that "tragicomedy is funny in the tragic" or vice versa, "tragic in the funny."
Widely known tragicomedies: "Alcestis" by Euripides, "The Tempest" by V. Shakespeare, "The Cherry Orchard" by A. Chekhov, the films "Forrest Gump", "The Great Dictator", "The Same Munchazen".
More detailed information on this topic can be found in the books of A. Nazaikin