Employing the idea of interculturality to study Middle Eastern adaptations of Greek tragedy from the turn of 20th century until the present day, this book first explores the earlier phase of the development of Greek classical reception in Middle Eastern theatre. It then moves to focus on modern Arabic, Persian and Turkish adaptations of Greek tragedy both in the early post-colonial and contemporary periods in the MENA and in Europe. Case by case, this book examines how the classical sources are reworked and adapted, as well as how they engage with interculturality, hybridisation and the circulation of aesthetics and models. At the same time, it explores the implications and consequences of expressing socio-political concerns through classical Greek sources.
While Muslim thinkers and translators introduced Greek philosophy – in particular Aristotle’s Poetics – to the West in the Middle Ages, adaptations of Greek tragedies only appeared in the MENA region at the very beginning of the 20th century. For this reason, the development of Greek tragedy in the Middle East is difficult to disentangle from colonialism and cultural imperialism. Encompassing language differences and offering for the first time a broad approach on the Middle-Eastern reception of Greek tragedy, this book produces a renewed focus on a fascinating aspect of the classical tradition.
List of Contributors Preface Introduction Part I: Adaptations and Translations of Greek Tragedy in a Colonial Context: A Historical perspective 1. Tragic Ways, Tragic Voices: Translating Greek Tragedy in the Wake of the Nahda, Roberto Salazar (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France) 2. Oedipus of Thebes on Arab Stages, Marvin Carlson (The City University of New York, USA) 3. From Ancient Greek Theatre to Turkish Theatre and Back: State of the Art, Erica Letailleur (Université Côte d’Azur, France) Part II: The Model as Diversion: A Tool to Tackle Political Issues on the Contemporary Stages 4. Brave Women in a Mad World: Euripides and the State of the Exception in Arab Theatre, Daniela Potenza (Università degli Studi di Messina, Italy) 5. So Many Medeas! Medea in Iran and Lebanon Since 2015, Yassaman Khajehi (Clermont Auvergne University, France) 6. Antigone in Iran: Towards a Political Subject of Resistance, Rezvan Zandieh (University of Caen Normandie, France) 7. When Iraqi Theatre Met the World Again: Haythem Abderrazak and His Looking for Oresteia, Antonio Pacifico (Jean Moulin University of Lyon, France) Part III: Greek Tragedy, A Shared Heritage? 8. Ambivalence of Interpretation Between Israel and France in Hanoch Levin's Theatre Tragic Materials, Emmanuelle Thiébot (Independent Scholar) 9. Sophocles’ Antigone by French Director Adel Hakim (2011): Using Greek Tragedy to Pay Tribute to Palestinian Resistance, Astrid Chabrat-Kajdan (Université Lyon 2, France) 10. Looking at Iraq from Afar: Two Oresteia on European Stages, Pauline Donizeau (University Lumière-Lyon 2, France) 11. Tingitanos by Zoubeir Ben Bouchta: A Moroccan Tragedy, Omar Fertat (Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France) Notes Bibliography Index
Pauline Donizeau is Lecturer in Theatre Studies at the Lumière University Lyon 2 , France. Yassaman Khajehi is Lecturer in Theatre Studies at Clermont Auvergne University, France. Daniela Potenza is a Researcher in Arabic Literature at Messina University, Italy.
Reviews for Greek Tragedy and the Middle East: Chasing the Myth
This book brings new dimensions to the investigation and understanding of the creative forces, cultural politics and scholarship associated with Greek Tragedy in the Middle East and North Africa. It testifies to the rich potential of cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary collaboration between researchers and teachers, and provides thought-provoking reading for scholars and students. -- Lorna Hardwick, Professor Emerita of Classical Studies, The Open University, UK
