"Man må føre menneskeheten ut av fryktens og den tålmodige sløvhetens primitive stadier-" : om den tyskspråklige resepsjonen av Jon Fosses tidlige dramatikk

Abstract

This article focuses on values, norms and expectations in the German theatre field coming into conflict with the first plays of the still unknown Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse. Hans-Thies Lehmann has claimed that the theatre of drama has lost its dynamic potential. But reading the German reviews one observes that the values assigned to Fosse's early theatre plays are solidly embedded in the paradigm of dramatic theatre. There was still little openness to Fosse's 'no more dramatic theatre texts' when they were introduced in German theatre in the year 2000. Faced with Fosse's focus on the materiality of language and a destabilization of the perception of reality, many theatre critics find Fosse's theatre hard to 'decode' and understand. Many critics reject replacing the traditional focus on representation by a multi-perspective structure of perception.