Přelož Brechta!

Na co se můžete těšit slovy prof. Martina Revermanna:

Brecht poems on the theatre: a creative&collaborative workshop

Brecht was, among other things, an extremely productive lyric poet. In this three-hour workshop, I would like to focus on select poems, written at various times of Brecht’s life, which have the theatre as their topic. As will become quickly obvious, not only do these ‘theatre poems’ lead deeply into important theoretical aspects, but they also do so in ways which are accessible, succinct and compelling. Brecht’s ‘lyric mode’ of theatre theory—a mode which, to my knowledge, no one else before or after him has used—turns out to be extremely effective in communicating his reflections on the theatre which have an (undeserved) reputation for being difficult and inaccessible.

The workshop will have three parts. After an introductory lecture, participants will be invited to work in small groups on translating on their own several select ‘theatre poems,’ which will be provided to them in the German original and in my English translation, into their native tongues (Czech or Slovak). In the final hour, the individual groups will present their translations and comment on them (both the translation product but also the process). Ideas on staging or (somehow) performing these poems are also encouraged.

As a result, participants should gain intellectual and creative stimulus by engaging in this ‘lyric mode’ of theatre theory and in the collaborative act of translation.

Biography and Research Overview:

Martin Revermann is a classical philologist and cultural historian, with particular interests in theatre (especially ancient Greek and 20th-century European theatre), translation, Bertolt Brecht, ancient Greek religion, lyric poetry (both ancient and modern), the history of science as well as modes of comparatism. Specific areas of research include performance criticism, iconography and sociology of Greek drama; the cultural history of Greek theatre from antiquity to the 21st century; the dramatic and lyric work of Bertolt Brecht; the history, theory and practices of translation (esp. that of Greek and Latin texts); the role of theatre and performance in the history of science; and exploring the interfaces between theatre and religion. Major focal points of his research have been Greek comedy (notably Aristophanes), tragedy as a dynamic art form, theatre theory as well as the work of Bertolt Brecht. His research (and graduate teaching) therefore integrates Classics, Theatre Studies, Comparative Literature, German Studies and History.

Revermann's award-winning doctoral research was the foundation of Comic Business. Theatrically, Dramatic Technique and Performance Contexts of Aristophanic Comedy (Oxford 2006). He has edited or co-edited five other books: Performance, Iconography, Reception. Studies in Honour of Oliver Taplin (Oxford 2008), Beyond the Fifth Century: Interactions with Greek Tragedy from the Fourth Century BCE to the Middle Ages (Berlin/New York 2010), The Cambridge Companion to Greek Comedy (Cambridge 2014), A Cultural History of Theatre (Vol. 1: Antiquity) (London 2017) and Semiotics in Action (Brno 2020). His latest monograph is Brecht and Tragedy: Radicalism, Traditionalism, Eristics (Cambridge 2022) while he is the editor of Translating Latin and Greek: A Critical Guide (in press with Cambridge University Press).