Author: David Kroča
Masaryk University, Brno
Translation from Czech by Zhorzheta Cholakova
Published in: Slavyanski dialozi, XVI, 2019, 24
Abstract: The study focuses on the characterisation of the characters in the Czech absurd theatre of the 1960s, mainly in the plays by Václav Havel, Ivan Klíma, Pavel Kohout, Milan Kundera, Miloš Macourek and Milan Uhde. The characters are most frequently depersonalized and their psychological characteristics are weakened to the advantage of fulfilling a mere function or a social role. They adapt to conditions of a dehumanized mechanism forcing an individual to accept its absurd norms. From the point of view of the composition, especially notable characters are the so-called rebels who defy the systemization of man, convict the absurd system of its mistakes, and oppose the serenity of their surroundings.
Key words: theatre of the absurd, characters, victim and rebel characters