New British Drama of Ideas: Politics, Ethics and Aesthetics in British Big Issue Plays after 2000

• Applicant: Dr. Ellen Redling
• Subject Area: European and American Literary and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272348545

This interdisciplinary post-doctoral project in the field of British literary and cultural studies will analyse a large number of British plays after 2000 which are focused on ideas. These ideas are related to a broad spectrum of current national and global political questions and problems. These very recent plays are different from both earlier dramas of ideas and the Marxist plays from the period of the 1960s to the 1980s since, unlike them, they do not propagate just one possible viewpoint; instead they portray discussions of a large variety of perspectives and solutions. This development is closely connected to new theories of democracy which arose in the wake of the breakdown of the Soviet Union and have particularly grown in number since the beginning of the New Labour government. They mark a departure from a strict opposition between Marxism and liberal democracy and concomitantly entail a greater openness of ideas, which in turn seeks to accommodate a modern multicultural society. Another reason for the special topicality of theories of democracy since the early 2000s can be found in the fact that numerous crises (the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the dot.com crisis and the global financial crisis) as well as the rise of the new media have induced many citizens to participate more actively in political processes. In the light of these developments the project will consult socio-political theories which disapprove of liberal approaches that solely allow for majority decisions and the free market economy to solve potential conflicts. Firstly, these are recent participatory and deliberative theories such as those of Jürgen Habermas, which are intended to lead to the negotiation of a consensus regarding political questions. Secondly, these theories include communitarian approaches like that of Michael Sandel, which are also aimed at negotiation, but which focus particularly on ethical concerns and the common good. Finally, radical-democratic theories such as those of Jacques Rancière will be included in the discussion. His approach also criticises the liberal state, but, unlike Habermas' and Sandel's theories, it rejects a democracy of consensus, the reason being that an agreement between various perspectives can result in the whitewashing of the fundamental differences between these viewpoints. Aside from political and ethical aspects this project will also explore the special aesthetics of these new dramas of ideas, since they do not simply replicate socio-political discussions that are taking place outside the theatre. The overall aim of this post-doctoral project is to develop both diachronic and synchronic approaches to dramas of ideas after 2000, which will establish some connections to the dramas of ideas from antiquity, but which will first and foremost concentrate on providing a greater understanding of the special aspects of this current and much more open dramatic genre.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Professor Dr. Dan Rebellato