Szubjektív és töredékes. Erdélyi magyar színházi előadások kritikai recepciója az „Utunk” folyóiratban 1946 és 1952 között

Abstract

Subjective and Fragmentary. The Critical Reception of Transylvanian Hungarian Theatrical Performances in the Utunk Magazine, 1946-1952

Defining theatre history as a history of performances will make us realize that the subject-matter of inquiries into theatre history does not exist. We cannot access the theatrical performances of the past as such; indeed, they are by nature events and as such, ephemeral. Any analysis of past performances is, in fact, an examination of the documentary records and traces that evoke the memory of the performances. One type of documents is the cultural periodicals, which contain subjective and fragmentary mementos of the performances and the simplest forms of reconstruction: descriptions, critical reviews, photos, etc. Following an exploration of the content of Utunk, a weekly magazine of literature, art, and criticism founded in 1946, and processing of the magazine’s articles on theatre, the paper seeks to answer questions such as: What were the hottest theatre-related issues of the period under review? To what extent were audience preferences and professional discourse on theatre shaped by the texts examined? What were the main characteristics of the language of theatre criticism of the period?