Our Religion and Your Freedom: On the Religious Offense in Contemporary European Theater
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| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The proposed paper should examine approaches to thematization and portrayal of religion and faith in contemporary Europen theater. Considering the development of European theatrical tradition, we can sense apparent theatrical subversions of religious dogmatism within society through satire and humour. However, the subversion has lately accelerated and transformed into direct attack not only on religious practices and institutions themselves but on the overall hegemonic viewpoint of Judeo-Christian ideolody of western society. The most significant role in this narrative was played by the controversial Croatian director Oliver Frljić and his productions Klątwa (The Curse, 2017) and Our Violence and Your Violence showcased in 2018 at an international festival Theater World Brno in Czech Republic. The paper should map the response of the general public to both of these productions and encompass the perspective of Polish highly religious society as well as majorly atheist Czech audience, offering sociological, religionistic and philosophical views of this issue. What are the taboos that remain inviolable within theater and art in general? How do we define the thin line between free speech and hate speech when discussing a work of art? Is the European art world going to undergo new censorship mechanisms? The paper should open a dialogue and contemplation about these and many other questions that connect to the rising issue of the proclaimed theatrical offense of religion. |