Le théâtre de la parole-spectacle

Description

This critical study focuses on the nature of word play which informs the works of Audiberti, de Obaldia, and Tardieu between World War II and the 1960s. Professor Lagier interprets the playwrights' overriding concern with linguistic experimentation and the paradoxical tension that it generates. In their writings, the arbitrary and sterile dimensions of language are illustrated by the use of puns, accumulation of terms from the same semantic field, and the creation of new foreign languages within standard French; techniques such as word play also demonstrate the infinite potential for linguistic regeneration and expansion. This paradox serves as the foundation for one of the book's main arguments: the need to reevaluate the importance of these three playwrights who have often been relegated to the margins of the canon. Professor Lagier proposes a new clasification of their theatrical works in relation to the Theater of the Absurd. -- Amazon.com.