Abstract
In her article "Trauma, Apocalypse, and Ethics in Israeli Theater" Zahava Caspi traces the traumatic experience as a point of departure in apocalyptic plays in Israeli literature. Caspi argues that in Israeli apocalyptic plays a critical gap opens up between the fictional narrative that ends with destruction and the theatrical apparatus that creates a sense of continuity. The theatrical text delivers a message to the audience inviting them to increase their engagement with and accountability for continuity not merely during the theatrical event, but more significantly, once the performance is over. The play's moral imperative to provide a "positive" ending to the apocalyptic narrative in the world outside the auditorium thus counters the effect of its ending on the stage. Caspi postulates that it is the active involvement with the play by its audience what makes theater a more ethical medium than any other.
Recommended Citation
Caspi, Zahava.
"Trauma, Apocalypse, and Ethics in Israeli Theater."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
14.1
(2012):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1870>
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