Teatr przełomu XX i XXI wieku wobec osoby ludzkiej

Abstract

The subject of this draft is the attitude of the theatre at the turn of the 20th and 21th centuries (mainly the attitude of the generation defined as younger and gifted) in reference to the idea of a human person which is fully represented with the help of anthropological concepts of classical trend of philosophy and personalistic reflection. Contemporary theatre does not follow this route and does not adhere to this concept. Like the main part of contemporary art and culture, it creates a new identity of the individual through the radical refutation - the rejection of all universal categories, ontological ideas, moral and social conventions, therefore the ones which provide Man with a high personal status. Negotiations, relativization, ,,liberation” or ,,deconstruction” acts which were generally expressed in the form of intellectual discourse by postmodernism promoters become personal participation of the spectator. Subjected to the influence of performative pressure of the theatre resembling the ritual of change, on account of obscenities, shock, profanation or blasphemy he experiences transgressive, alien, unknown earlier recognition of himself. These states and situations find their consolidation in the non-personalistic vision of Man. In theatrical consciousness the ,,apothatic” attitude towards religion or morality dominates, confidence in indeterminateness of existence, and in the need of acceptance of everything without exception, the good and the bad, which is qualified as ,,apokatastasis”, due to the reference to the Church refutation of this Early Christian idea. The draft distinguishes consecutive manifestations of lowering the living status of Man. It also proves that the category of a human being is an effective tool of diagnosis for the theatre - its message or ideological aspirations shaping contemporary theatrical culture.