Dramatic Disgust: Aesthetic Theory and Practice from Sophocles to Sarah Kane (Lettre) - Softcover

Sarah J. Ablett

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3837652106 ISBN 13: 9783837652109

Publisher: Transcript Verlag, 2020

Synopsis

Aesthetic disgust is a key component of most classic works of drama because it has much more potential than to simply shock the audience. This first extensive study on dramatic disgust places this sensation among pity and fear as one of the core emotions that can achieve katharsis in drama. The book sets out in antiquity and traces the history of dramatic disgust through Kant, Freud, and Kristeva to Sarah Kane's in-yer-face theatre. It establishes a framework to analyze forms and functions of disgust in drama by investigating its different cognates (miasma, abjection, etc.). Providing a concise argument against critics who have discredited aesthetic disgust as juvenile attention-grabbing, Sarah J. Ablett explains how this repulsive emotion allows theatre to dig deeper into what it means to be human.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah J. Ablett has studied English literature, philosophy, and creative writing at the Universities of Hamburg, Manchester, Heidelberg, and Hildesheim, and completed her doctorate at TU Braunschweig. She has taught literary and cultural studies and was part of the research project »Hyphenated Cultures: Contemporary British-Jewish Theatre« funded by the VolkswagenStiftung.

Edition details

• Publisher: Transcript Verlag
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3837652106
• ISBN 13: 9783837652109
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 204