Inside the inner dynamism of the theatrical sign: an archaeology of Jiří Veltruský’s theatre theory

The text provides an overview of the theatre theory of Jiří Veltruský, focusing specifically on the development of his notion of the theatrical sign from his early texts published in the 1940s to his mature writings which appeared in the 1980s. The text demonstrates how Veltruský synthesises theoretical concepts from the works of Jan Mukařovský, Roman Jakobson, Karl Bühler, Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles S. Peirce to create his own dynamic concept of sign. This concept captures the specific qualities of theatre semiotics and avoids the shortcomings of the mechanical application of the linguistic notion of sign to art. Veltruský’s theoretical work is then contextualised within the semiotic theories of theatre by Roland Barthes, Erika Fischer-Lichte, Marco De Marinis, Keir Elam and Patrice Pavis, and is also discussed in relation to the paradigmatic change after the ‘performative turn’ in theatre and social studies.