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Martin Esslin (1918–2002)

Författare till The Theatre of the Absurd

29+ verk 1,325 medlemmar 8 recensioner

Om författaren

Martin Esslin was at his death in 2002 at the age of 83, Emeritus Professor of Drama at Stanford University.
Foto taget av: Babelio.com

Verk av Martin Esslin

The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) — Redaktör — 677 exemplar
Brecht: The Man and His Work (1959) 144 exemplar
Samuel Beckett: A Collection of Critical Essays (1965) — Redaktör — 70 exemplar
An Anatomy of Drama (1976) 57 exemplar
Artaud (1976) — Författare — 52 exemplar
Pinter, the playwright (1991) 19 exemplar
The Genius of the German Theater (1968) — Redaktör — 17 exemplar
The age of television (1982) 16 exemplar
Three German Plays (1963) — Redaktör — 12 exemplar

Associerade verk

Shakespeare - vår samtida (1964) — Inledning, vissa utgåvor307 exemplar
Beckett at 60: a festschrift (1967) — Bidragsgivare — 8 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Namn enligt folkbokföringen
Pereszlényi, Julius
Andra namn
Esslin, Martin Julius
Pereszlényi, Márton Gyula
Födelsedag
1918-06-06
Avled
2002-02-24
Kön
male
Nationalitet
Hungary
UK (naturalised)
Land (för karta)
UK
Födelseort
Budapest, Hungary
Dödsort
London, England, UK
Bostadsorter
Vienna, Austria
Yrken
dramatist
critic
translator
Relationer
Gerstenberg, Renate (wife)
Hochwälder, Fritz (author)
Organisationer
British Broadcasting Corporation (joined|1940|producer and scriptwriter|European Service|head of BBC Radio Drama|1963-1977)
Florida state university (professor of theatre|1969-1976)
Stanford university (professor of drama|1977-1988)
Garrick Club
Royal Shakespeare Company (literary advisor)
Arts Council of Great Britain (Drama Panel member)
Priser och utmärkelser
Order of the British Empire (1972)
Kort biografi
Nationality: United Kingdom
Born: Hungary, 06/06/1918
Death: London, 24/02/2002

Biography: Martin Esslin is a British writer and critic, born in Budapest, Hungary June 6, 1918 and died at the age of 83, in London February 24, 2002 following a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Expatriate with his family in Vienna, Austria, Martin Esslin studied English and philosophy at university.
He began an acting career on stage at the seminar of Max Reinhardt drama but, in 1938, at the dawn of the theatrical debut, the Nazi occupation of Austria forced him to leave the country.

He spent a year in Brussels, Belgium, before settling in Britain where he became a writer and producer for the BBC. He was then promoted to head of radio drama during the 1960s. He fulfilled his dream by creating the "national theater," which he led the rest of his life.

During this period, the BBC produced hundreds of radio plays, he translated into English with his team. Martin Esslin is particularly known for having established, in one of his essays, the term "theater of the absurd," a phrase become popular since then.

Medlemmar

Recensioner

I acquired this one from my recently late uncle's collection. It was a somewhat dry read but there were points of interest all through it. Although this book suggests in its Preface that this book is more than a survey of four important writers in the Theatre of the Absurd, it pretty much is. It gives some background on each of these writers and also gives summaries of specific instances of their work. This is the meat of this book.
The main thing about this book that I really hated was the length of some of the chapters. The first chapter is 55 pages long, the third is 66 pages long, and the fifth is 83 pages long! The author really should've broken these chapters up into more easily digestible portions. Other than that this book is not bad, but also not particularly what I was looking for concerning its subject matter. I was expecting more of a discussion on the commonalities and conventions found in works in the Theatre of the Absurd. However, there is some useful information in there for my purposes at least.
Would I recommend this book to anyone? Well, if you have a particular interest in Samuel Beckett, Arthur Adamov, Eugene Ionesco, and/or Jean Genet then yes as they are covered to some depth as is their work. Otherwise, probably not.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Ranjr | 6 andra recensioner | Jul 13, 2023 |
Very readable and comprehensive introduction to Absurdism in the theatre. While few people now have probably seen more than one or two Absurdist plays, if any, this book explains why they are still of interest and relevance beyond the confines of the theatre. This is for a number of reasons:

Firstly, the influence of this movement has stretched out to nearly every modern cultural format - to literature, film, TV, music videos, computer games, memes, and whatever else you can think of. Understanding these influences gives us a better appreciation of each of these respective domains individually, as well as of modern culture as a whole.

Secondly, the thought processes required to create, and to understand absurdist plays, differ in so many conceptually interesting ways from normal thought - sometimes subtle, sometimes stark. Hence coming to grips with these is in itself intellectually rewarding and creatively stimulating.

Thirdly, the theatre of the absurd is a rich source of unique,sometimes challenging, visual metaphors. Metaphors are key to understanding the theatre of the absurd, as they are with our understanding of poetry, of scientific concepts, as well as in more specific areas such as the psychology of dreams (which has a very strong link to absurdist theatre). Metaphors being flexible, the theatre of the absurd has relevance across these domains too.

Finally – this book opens up a whole range of interesting characters (the playwrights), their personal histories, their psychology and neuroses, and their works as a source of potential future reading and study.

This book is also quite clear to clarify the differences between Surrealism, and Absurdism, so we are left in no confusion as to what demarcates each. Though a few individuals transitioned from the earlier movement, Surrealism, to the more recent movement Absurdism, this marked a change in their style and creative philosophy.

Definitely a book to read if you have even a passing interest in theatre, and highly recommended for anyone else with an interest in 20th Century culture and beyond.
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
P_S_Patrick | 6 andra recensioner | Apr 7, 2020 |
Ritrovo questo libro che l'algoritmo del sistema mi segnala per affinità di letture. Devo averlo da qualche parte ma non l'ho incontrato da parecchio tempo. Ricordo di averlo studiato molti anni fa quando a Londra, in una Summer School, ebbi modo di seguire un corso sul teatro dell'assurdo. Fu in quella occasione che conobbi Tom Stoppard e Harold Pinter, non proprio di persona, intendo, ma in maniera letteraria. Un libro molto interessante e utile. In quegli anni la parola "assurdo" era molto di moda. Continua ad esserlo ancora oggi anche se mi pare di poter dire che l'assurdita' sia diventata ormai una "normalità...… (mer)
 
Flaggad
AntonioGallo | 6 andra recensioner | Nov 2, 2017 |
A history of absurdist theatre, with thorough profiles of some of the leading artists of absurdism, such as Beckett, Ionesco, and Genet. The author traces absurdism back throughout the history of theatre, tying in threads even from the Greek and Roman comedic dramatists. He finds traces of aburdist theatre in Shakespeare, and traces the influence of Shakespeare on some of the more modern writers, after modern Theatre of the Absurd rose post WWII. A good work overall, but begins to get a bit draggy before it is over. Recommended for any serious student of theatre, or for anyone interested in knowing the origins and (non-)meaning behind some of their favorite absurdist works.… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
Devil_llama | 6 andra recensioner | Apr 20, 2016 |

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Statistik

Verk
29
Även av
2
Medlemmar
1,325
Popularitet
#19,400
Betyg
3.9
Recensioner
8
ISBN
75
Språk
6

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