Carousel and Planetarium: The Dialectic of the Dramatic and the Epic in the Intellectual Theater

The dramatic and the epic are two problems the solution of which in modern literary criticism makes it possible to determine the specifics of the development of drama in the global literary process. The article aims to analyze the functioning of the dramatic and the epic based on the theory of the epic theater by B. Brecht, who anticipated G. Stein’s concept of the landscape play. The paper provides a typological analysis of plays by Scribe, Ostrovsky, and Brecht against the background of one-sided contact relationships. This analysis makes it possible to identify similarities and differences in the playwrights’ techniques when creating the plot. Of particular interest is the question about the function of retardation, which disrupts the unity of action in a play, as well as about the influence of its place in the composition on the audience's perception. The study employed the methods of literary observation and interpretation of the role of retardation in the composition of plays. The key research method was a typological analysis of the plays by Scribe, Ostrovsky, and Brecht in their connection with the dramatic/epic opposition. The result of the study is the definition of the boundaries of two types of theater (carousel, planetarium), leaning toward the polar tendencies of the recipient’s emotional involvement. In the opposition of the dramatic/epic, the research revealed dialogism determined by the acting-centered nature of the theater. The study has also identified the methods of introducing retardation into a play, including a retrospective, a song-lyrical commentary on the action, bringing together the poetics of Ostrovsky and Brecht. The author of the article concludes that the increasing frequency of the use of the retardation technique in drama is connected with the development of realism and is due to the contradiction related to the temporal aspect of a play and its delayed perception by the viewer.