Analytical drama

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An analytical drama , discovery or revelation drama is a basic conception of the dramatic plot structure.

An analytical drama is based on a specific incident in the prehistory of the event depicted. Only effects of this occurrence are initially recognizable, the cause of which is only gradually discovered or revealed step by step in the course of the action.

Thus, two levels of action can be identified in an analytical drama:

  • The prehistory in which an event takes place, the consequences of which extend into the presence of the stage, but which is not yet known at the beginning of the performance (also because it is not shown on the stage).
  • The immediate events on the stage, within the framework of which the past event is analytically revealed. This revelation in turn can have an impact on the represented present.

The prototype of the analytical drama is considered to be Sophocles ' King Oedipus approx. 429–425 BC. Chr., The oldest surviving drama of this kind. Other examples are Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan the Wise 1779, Heinrich von Kleist's The Broken Jug 1808, Friedrich Hebbel's Maria Magdalena in 1844, Henrik Ibsen's Nora or a Doll's House in 1879, Carl Caros Am Herzogshof 1984, Schnitzler's The Companion in 1899 and numerous crime pieces .

The analytical drama is in contrast to the target drama .

literature

  • Rose Schäfer-Maulbetsch: Analytical Drama . In: Metzler Literature Lexicon. Terms and Definitions . Edited by Günther and Irmgard Schweikle. 2., revised. Aufl. Stuttgart: Metzler 1990. pp. 13-14. ISBN 3-476-00668-9 .
  • Uwe Spörl: Analytical Drama . In: Uwe Spörl: Basislexikon Literaturwissenschaft . Paderborn: Schöningh 2004 (= UTB 2485). Pp. 230-231. ISBN 3-506-99003-9 .
  • Analytical drama . In: Gero von Wilpert : Subject Dictionary of Literature (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 231). 6th, improved and enlarged edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-520-23106-9 , pp. 25-26.