The Crisis of Theatre Criticism in the Twenty-First Century: Navigating Through the Argus Gaze

Year 2024, , 483 - 494, 31.12.2024

Pınar İnceefe

https://doi.org/10.55004/tykhe.1586364

Abstract

This study focuses on the crisis discourse surrounding early twenty-first century theatre criticism, discussing the challenges faced by criticism as it confronts its own existence. Criticism practices have become increasingly unsustainable within the framework of conventional discourses of authority in a rapidly changing world. In this process, criticism has become a practice that interrogates its own existence through a metacritical approach, and it has turned into a narrative of crisis. In the study, American art critic James Elkins’ Hydra metaphor, originally used to describe the state of art criticism in the twenty-first century, is adapted to theatre criticism. By adopting Elkins' approach of using a mythological metaphor, the Argus Gaze is proposed as a new model that offers an inclusive and pluralistic perspective on the future of theatre criticism. This model embraces diversity and polyphony, aiming to transform theatre criticism into a more flexible and dialogic practice that aligns with the dynamic changes of contemporary culture.

Keywords

Keywords: Theatre Criticism, Crisis of Criticism, Metacriticism, Art Criticism, Future of Criticism.

Yirmi Birinci Yüzyılda Tiyatro Eleştirisinin Krizi: Argus Bakışıyla İlerlemek

Abstract

Bu çalışma, yirmi birinci yüzyılın ilk çeyreğinde tiyatro eleştirisinin içinde bulunduğu kriz söylemine odaklanır ve eleştirinin karşı karşıya olduğu zorlukları tartışır. Eleştiri pratikleri, hızla değişen dünyada konvansiyonel otorite söylemiyle sürdürülemez durumdadır. Bu süreçte eleştiri, metakritik bir yönelimle kendi varoluşunu sorgulayan, yeniden biçimlenmek durumunda kalan bir pratik haline gelmiş ve giderek bir kriz anlatısına dönüşmüştür.

Çalışmada, Amerikalı sanat eleştirmeni James Elkins’in yirmi birinci yüzyılda sanat eleştirisinin durumunu betimlemek için kullandığı Hydra metaforu tiyatro eleştirisine uyarlanır. Elkins'in mitolojik bir metafor kullanma yaklaşımı benimsenerek tiyatro eleştirisinin geleceğine yönelik kapsayıcı ve çoğulcu bir perspektif sunan Argus Bakışı yeni bir model olarak önerilir. Bu model, çeşitliliği ve çok sesliliği benimsemenin yanı sıra tiyatro eleştirisini çağdaş kültürün dinamik değişimlerine uyum sağlayacak biçimde daha esnek ve diyalojik bir pratiğe dönüştürmeyi amaçlar.

Keywords

Theatre Criticism, Crisis of Criticism, Metacriticism, Art Criticism, Future of Criticism.

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