STAGE INCARNATIONS OF TOTALITARIAN MYTHOLOGEMS IN THE BULGARIAN THEATRE
Etudes balkaniques (Sofia) 2022 N 1
Joanna Spasova-Dikova
Institute of Art Studies
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Bulgaria
Abstract: The presentation addresses issues related to the construction of the socialist canon in the Bulgarian theatre on the basis of certain postulates and ideologemes that provoked the creation of new totalitarian mythologems (Jung, Kerényi). By its very nature, European totalitarianism of the 20th century did not tolerate gods other than those whom it had named itself. Rejecting the centuries-old faith in the Christian god, the system had to elevate its idols. Here the magic that art and artistic image possess was put into reconsideration. Totalitarian culture and art incorporated the powerful tradition of esoteric notions of image in order to create a new religion with new rituals that affect consciousness through the archetypal in a grand spectacle (Debord). In this theatrе, the stage incarnations of totalitarian mythologems about the party leader, the positive hero, the youth, the masses, etc. became the main means of forming the type of socio-political thinking necessary for the power.
Keywords: Totalitarian Mythologems, Stage Incarnations, Bulgarian Theatre, Socialism, Magic.
THE THEATRE AND THE CITY ON THE WAY OF EUROPEANIZATION AND MODERNIZATION OF BULGARIAN CULTURE
Joanna Minkova Spassova-Dikova
Institute of Art Studies
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Bulgaria
Abstract: The paper discusses some issues which pertain to the relationship between theatre and urban culture. The survey is part of a larger research, which aims to trace the role of the theatre for building urban culture and memory in the process of asserting the national identity at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in the context of the modernization and Europeanization of the Bulgarian society after the Liberation until the Second World War. Problems about the significance of the established National theatres in Central and Eastern Europe during the investigated period are outlined. In focus is the professionalization and institutionalization of the Bulgarian theatre activities with the foundation of the National Theatre. Important questions about the repertoire, the professional acting staff, the native and the foreign are put into reconsideration.
Keywords: City, National Theatre, Modernization, Europeanisation, National Identity
MIRACLES AND MAGIC IN THE PERFORMING ARTS
Joanna Spassova-Dikova
Institute of Art Studies
(Bulgarian Academy of Sciences)
Abstract: The paper looks at different ways of performing live miracles and magic on the stage from ancient times to the present days with the development of new technologies when all magical beings could be presented on stage. The main point is that there is nothing surprising in miracles, and there is nothing magical in magic (Littlewood’s law). In the magic bowl, only innate and acquired skills, knowledge, dexterity, abilities, talents have to blend in with a lot of hard work, perseverance, effort, sustainability, faith and a bit of luck to get in the right place and at the right time. Magic art creates a new virtual reality in which the impossible becomes possible before the eyes of the spectator. Dreams materialise. In the new digital era this is no longer a big problem. However, when it comes to live performance arts, the problem of creating illusions or virtual realities is essential. The study analyses issues related to life and non-life, here and beyond, to the vertical link and the metaphysics of human presence in art in the process of interpersonal communication.
Keywords: Miracle, Magic, Illusion, Littlewood’s Law, Performance Arts, Theatre, Performance, Magic Art