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Dissertation

An Ear for an Eye: Greek Tragedy on Radio

TL;DR: An Ear for an Eye: Greek Tragedy on Radio examines the dramaturgical principles involved in the adaptation of Greek tragedies for production as radio dramas by considering the classical dramatic form's representational ability through purely oral means as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: An Ear for an Eye: Greek Tragedy on Radio examines the dramaturgical principles involved in the adaptation of Greek tragedies for production as radio dramas by considering the classical dramatic form’s representational ability through purely oral means and the effects of dramaturgical interventions. The inherent orality of these tragedies and Aristotle’s suggested limitation of spectacle (opsis) appears to make them eminently suitable for radio, a medium in which the visual dimension of plays is relegated entirely to the imagination through the agency of sound. Utilizing productions from Canadian and British national radio (where classical adaptations are both culturally mandated and technically practical) from the height of radio’s golden age to the present, this study demonstrates how producers adapted to the unique formal properties of radio. The appendices include annotated, chronological lists of 154 CBC and BBC productions that were identified in the course of research, providing a significant resource for future investigators. The dissertation first examines the proximate forces which shaped radio dramaturgy and radio listeners. Situating the emergence of radio in the context of modernity, Chapter One elucidates how audiences responded to radio’s return to orality within a visually-oriented culture. Chapter Two then analyses the specific perceptual and imaginative activity of individuals, considering how audiences experience acoustic space. I describe how the audience’s central position in the reception of radio drama is integral to the completion of the dramatic frame of radio. The second part of this dissertation addresses radiophonic dramaturgy and issues in representation. In Chapter Three, the didactic and nationalistic impetus for the adaptation of classics as radio plays is considered and the principles of radio adaptation are outlined. The final two chapters examine the formal properties of productions in adaptation through case studies to illustrate where the play’s inherent orality allows for ease in adaptation or where greater dramaturgical intervention is required. Chapter Four examines the construction of dramatic figures, music and song, the use of paratheatrical materials, and narrative strategies for the representation of action, space, and time. Chapter Five examines productions where greater dramaturgical intervention and innovation is in evidence, including the manipulation of perspective (in the CBC’s 2001 Medea), the use of music to modernize setting (in the 1998 CBC-BBC co-production of The Trojan Women), the use of experimental montage (in the BBC’s 1976 Ag), the introduction of flashback sequences (in the CBC’s 1987 Antigone), and solutions to the problem of what I term “dramaturgical erasure” (the inadvertent removal of silent figures from the perspectival field).%%%%PhD

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
08 Sep 1978-Science

5,182 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Phelan as mentioned in this paper, The Politics of Performance, Peggy Phelan. London: Routtedge, 1993. xi + 207 pp., figures, notes, bibliography, index.
Abstract: Unmarked: The Politics of Performance, Peggy Phelan. London: Routtedge, 1993. xi + 207 pp., figures, notes, bibliography, index.

493 citations

DOI
03 Mar 2005

84 citations

References
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Book
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In Frame Analysis, the brilliant theorist wrote about the ways in which people determine their answers to the questions What is going on here? and Under what circumstances do we think things are real?.
Abstract: Erving Goffman will influence the thinking and perceptions of generations to come In Frame Analysis, the brilliant theorist writes about the ways in which people determine their answers to the questions What is going on here? and Under what circumstances do we think things are real? "

11,533 citations

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TL;DR: One of the most important works of cultural theory ever written, Walter Benjamin's groundbreaking essay explores how the age of mass media means audiences can listen to or see a work of art repeatedly and what the troubling social and political implications of this are as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: One of the most important works of cultural theory ever written, Walter Benjamin's groundbreaking essay explores how the age of mass media means audiences can listen to or see a work of art repeatedly - and what the troubling social and political implications of this are. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

5,238 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Sep 1978-Science

5,182 citations

Book
01 Jun 1995
TL;DR: Berman examines the clash of classes, histories, and cultures, and ponders our prospects for coming to terms with the relationship between a liberating social and philosophical idealism and a complex, bureaucratic materialism.
Abstract: "A bubbling caldron of ideas . . . Enlightening and valuable." Mervyn Jones, New Statesman. The political and social revolutions of the nineteenth century, the pivotal writings of Goethe, Marx, Dostoevsky, and others, and the creation of new environments to replace the oldall have thrust us into a modern world of contradictions and ambiguities. In this fascinating book, Marshall Berman examines the clash of classes, histories, and cultures, and ponders our prospects for coming to terms with the relationship between a liberating social and philosophical idealism and a complex, bureaucratic materialism.From a reinterpretation of Karl Marx to an incisive consideration of the impact of Robert Moses on modern urban living, Berman charts the progress of the twentieth-century experience. He concludes that adaptation to continual flux "is" possible and that therein lies our hope for achieving a truly modern society."

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TL;DR: In this paper, Bordwell and Thompson's Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema, supporting a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries.
Abstract: Film is an art form with a language and an aesthetic all its own. Since 1979, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson's Film Art has been the best-selling and most widely respected introduction to the analysis of cinema. Taking a skills-centered approach supported by examples from many periods and countries, the authors help students develop a core set of analytical skills that will enrich their understanding of any film, in any genre. In-depth examples deepen students' appreciation for how creative choices by filmmakers affect what viewers experience and how they respond.

1,561 citations