Jan Kott and The Aesthetics of Reception: Aspects of An Existential Theatre

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to discuss Jan Kott's contribution to drama criticism through his indebtedness to existentialism. The first part of the paper is concerned with how Kott's reading of Shakespeare enabled him to better understand his own situation as a dissident in Communist Poland. The second part of the paper maintains that Kott's reading of Greek tragedy casts light on the period of the Polish Occupation and the situation in Europe after the Second World War. The concluding section argues that Kott's drama criticism is best read as an application of reception theory to the existential approach to literature.