A New World Through Revolution – On Utopia and its Influence on the Dramatic Structure in Jozef Závodný’s Play Nadčlovek ([Overman] 1928) Cover Image

Cez revolúciu k novému svetu – podoba utópie a jej vplyvy na dramatickú štruktúru v hre Nadčlovek (1928) od Jozefa Závodného
A New World Through Revolution – On Utopia and its Influence on the Dramatic Structure in Jozef Závodný’s Play Nadčlovek ([Overman] 1928)

Author(s): Hana Lacová
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Slovak Literature
Published by: Ústav slovenskej literatúry SAV
Keywords: dramatic character; dramatic plot; dramatic dialogue; utopian theme; revolution;

Summary/Abstract: The article presents an interpretation of Jozef Závodný’s (1899 – 1969) play Nadčlovek ([Overman] 1928). The dramatic text deals with a utopian topic of revolutionary change of the world through technological invention. In spite of the fact that the play was staged in 1928 by Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, it remains largely forgotten. The article outlines the way in which Závodný’s text builds its dramatic dialogues and models its characters and plot. At the same time, the contribution aims at specifying utopian motifs the play employs and strives to show the ways in which these influence the dramatic structure. The author of the contribution also provides an overview of the possible sources of inspiration (avant-garde art, film, political theatre, socialist ideology, Christian concepts) that resulted in play’s employment of multiple textual strategies and the principle of hybridisation on multiple levels (genre, characters, plot). The play accentuates political and ideological messages and this has a significant bearing on the dramatic dialogue and the category of the dramatic persona. The characters in the play are reduced to promoters of political beliefs and dialogues are narrowed down to presenting the utopian vision and as such lose their dramatic potential.

  • Issue Year: 69/2022
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 224-238
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Slovak