Philosophers and thespians : thinking performance

249 Pages·2010·2.464 MB·English

by  Rokem, Freddie

philosophers and thespians

Cultural Memory
in
the
Present
Mieke Bal and Hent de Vries, Editors

PHILOSOPHERS AND THESPIANS
Th inking Performance
Freddie Rokem
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All
rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission
of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rokem, Freddie, 1945–
Philosophers and thespians: thinking performance / Freddie Rokem.
p. cm. — (Cultural memory in the present)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-6349-3 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn 978-0-8047-6350-9
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Th eater and philosophy. 2. Drama—Technique. I. Title. II. Series:
Cultural memory in the present.
pn2039.r65 2010
792.01—dc22
2009015734
Typeset by Motto Publishing Services in 11/13.5 Adobe Garamond
To Alma
Engel und Puppe: dann ist endlich Schauspiel
Dann kommt zusammen, was wir immerfort
entzwein, indem wir da sind.
—rainer maria rilke, Duineser Elegien, 4
Angel and puppet: a real play, fi nally.
Th en what we separate by our very presence
Can come together.
—translated by stephen mitchell
Contents
Preface xi
Introduction 
part i. encounters
 Th e First Encounter: Plato’s Symposium and the Ancient
Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry 
 “Who’s Th ere?” Hamlet as Philosopher and Th espian 
 Stagings of the Self: Th e Nietzsche-Strindberg
Correspondence 
 Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht Discuss Franz Kafka:
Exilic Journeys 
part ii. constellations
 Accidents and Catastrophic Constellations:
Performative Agendas 
 Wishes, Promises, and Th reats: Th e Performative
Storytelling of Walter Benjamin 
Notes 199
Index 219