Artaud and his doubles [electronic resource] / Kimberly Jannarone.

Issued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-241) and index.

The fight against civilization; or, the rebirth of tragedy. Invocation of the plague : nouveau mal du siecle the residues of war "The future of the world" -- Reactionary modern : the controversions of the counter-enlightenment anywhere out of this world irrational affinities -- Audience, mass, crowd. The avant-garde and the audience : the crisis of bourgeois theater the avant-garde and the audience immersion agitation -- The theater of cruelty and conceptions of the audience -- Theaters for the masses : working on the masses mythical, total, real -- Crowds and cruelty : crowd feeling in the theater of cruelty the nerve meter -- Visions of power. The artist of the theater : the rise of the director artistic power in the Jarry Theater the direction of menace -- Controlling forces : directing The Cenci concentrating control power by charisma -- Conclusion : longing for nothingness.

This is an unlooked-for project. Like many others, I first saw Artaud through the filters of American experimental theater and post-structuralism. My earliest work on Artaud began from accepted familiar premises, largely established in the 1960s: Artaud as prophet, madman, genius, was the thing to study; his significance lay in his status as an inspirational figure manifesting a largely ahistorical impulse; his denunciation of civilization's discontents implied a progressive critique. My research led me in different directions, however. Fueled by a desire to really read Artaud's works closely especially his early writing and his productions--I dug into the archives to research Artaud's theatrical practice.

Description based on print version record.