THE PROBLEMATIC OF REPRESENTATION OF REALITY IN CONTEMPORARY ART AND METADRAMA

Abstract

The history of theatre, which has aimed to represent the external reality directly for centuries, witnessed the alternative thought and possibilities of representation about reality beginning from the historical avant-garde. In addition to the idea of reflecting the reality as it is, the tendencies to transform, distort or completely ignore it arose. The new writing practices, which are shaped by the ideas of contemporary thinkers to analyze the perception of reality that has changed in the technology age, especially the simulation theory of Baudrillard, enable the plays to distance themselves from the conventional in terms of both content related and formal tendencies. In the changes observed since the mid-20th century along with capitalist transformation, the reduction of the artwork to its commodity value just as an ordinary product also affects theatrical practices. The process of theatricalization, which is associated with the phenomenon of objectification, is effective not only on the staging and acting but also on the art of drama. In this process, metadramatic plays revealing the theatrical codes of drama gains importance in play writing – both to move away from concrete reality and to reverse the postmodernism's discourse about death of drama.