What is the potential of not-understanding (Nichtverstehen) for a critique of culture and subversive aesthetic strategies? How do forms of situational representation actualize this potential? These questions are addressed by this transdisciplinary PhD project, located at the intersection of philosophy and theatre studies.
The project examines theatrical strategies that aim at a representation of the non-understandable as well as strategies undermining the seemingly self-evident. For this purpose, the project develops a philosophical dialogue with the theoretical writings of Bertolt Brecht as well as Antonin Artaud.
The project depicts how the scenic form, as situational representation, can provide a critical practice by confronting the spectator with the precariousness and uncertainty of understanding, sense and meaning. In light of this practice, the project describes the philosophical consequences for the concepts of culture, critique and resistance.