Oscar Brockett

Oscar Brockett (born March 18, 1923 in Hartsville , Tennessee ; died November 7, 2010 in Austin , Texas ) was an American drama scholar and university professor.

Life

Oscar Brockett was from the rural state of Tennessee; his parents were tobacco farmers. He received his bachelor's degree from Peabody College and continued his studies at Stanford University , where he received his master's degree and doctorate.

He made his first experiences as a university lecturer at the University of Iowa , University of Indiana , University of Southern California and finally Bristol University in England. In 1963 he came to the University of Bloomington, Illinois , where he stayed for 15 years. The university with which he finally identified and whose theater faculty he shaped the most was the University of Texas at Austin . There Brockett was dean of the College of Fine Arts from 1978 to 1980, then professor and chairman of the doctoral program in the Department of Theater and Dance from 1980 to 2006.

plant

In the Anglo-American region, Brockett was considered the most famous theater historian for two generations. The circulation and sales statistics of his textbook, History of the Theater , beat any competition and was considered standard reading at many universities. In his works he mainly dealt with the technical details of theater production, stage design and theater technology; he did not see himself as a literary scholar . His approach differed from that of his predecessors and colleagues, who in many cases emerged from the linguistics ( English , German , etc.).

Brockett has received awards from numerous research institutions and foundations, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Fulbright Foundation . He received several honorary doctorates. He was a Fellow of the American Theater at the Kennedy Center and recipient of many awards from theater science associations.

Monographs

• Satire in English Drama, 1590–1603

Dissertation, Stanford University 1953.

• The Theater: An Introduction

First edition New York 1964.

• History of the Theater (11th edition published in 2017)

First edition appeared in Boston in 1968, more than 20 translations, including Farsi.

• The Essential Theater

First edition New York 1976.

• Century of Innovation: A History of European and American Theater and Drama Since the Late Nineteenth Century

Together with Robert Findlay

• Modern Theater: Realism and Naturalism to the Present

First edition Boston 1982.

• World drama

First edition New York 1984.

• Making the Scene: A History of Stage Design and Technology in Europe and the United States

Together with Margaret Mitchell and Linda Hardberger

First edition San Antonio 2012.

Editing

• Theater Journal

The traditional magazine has been published quarterly since 1949

• Theater and Drama Series

A series from the UMI Research Press.