'Suddenly a stranger comes into the room': Interruptions in Brecht, Benjamin and Kafka. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rokem, Freddie
• Is Part Of: Studies in theatre and performance. Volume 36:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 21
• Page End: 26
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Walter Benjamin -- Bertolt Brecht -- Franz Kafka -- interruptions; Drama -- Periodicals; Theater -- Periodicals; Performing arts -- Periodicals; Acting -- Periodicals; Drama; Performing arts; Theater; Periodicals; 792.05
• DOI: 10.1080/14682761.2015.1114334
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1468-2761

Abstract

Abstract: This essay presents some suggestions for a re-examination of the notion of the interruption – a central device of Bertolt Brecht's epic theatre – as it has been reflected on and developed by Walter Benjamin. Franz Kafka is the connecting link, as Benjamin claimed that his world is a world of theater which can only be understood in terms of the gestus, a central notion in Brecht's epic theatre and of which the interruption is an example.