A cooperation between the German department of the Pedagogical University of Cracow nd the Institute of English and American Studies of TU Dortmund University.

For centuries traditional gender roles have been negotiated on theatre stages. They  are being affirmed, questioned or deconstructed. The theatrical depiction of relationships ranges from hetero- to homosexual couples, across friendships and symbiotic constellations to one-sided love and marriages with an unequal power balance. Moreover, relationships are rarely static, but can undergo profound changes throughout a play. 

The analysis of relationships tends to focus on characters which, as the dramatis personae, are constituted in terms of “characterization” and “construction”. Manfred Pfister describes “construction” as predominantly created by way of dialogues and monologues – the basic form of communication in traditional dramatic texts. The relation between plot and dialogue is dialectic, which means speech is spoken plot, as Luigi Pirandello argues. 

Many texts follow the rules of classical drama, but others stand in the post-dramatic tradition which came up in the late 20^th century. According to Hans-Thies Lehmann, post-dramatic plays violate the traditional dialogical structure; their characters tend not to speak with each other. Rather their speech forms “Sprachflächen” (Elfriede Jelinek), which do not have a specific addressee but still can establish relationships. 

The conference will have a closer look on relationships in Polish, German and English plays of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Not only dramatic literature but also theatre productions can be analyzed in presentations /posters of up to 20 minutes.

The conference will be held in Polish, German and English; corresponding language sections are planned.

We want to kindly invite young scholars from literary, theatre and performance studies as well as similar disciplines such as cultural studies, philosophy and linguistics.

Please submit your exposé by 30 November. Confirmations will be sent out within two weeks. The conference fee will be 400 PLN (100 EUR). We intend to publish the presentations.

Dr. Agata Mirecka, [email protected], Pädagogische Universität Krakau

Dr. Natalia Fuhry, [email protected], Technische Universität Dortmund