Open Access

Hanno Ehrlicher

• Komik als Kampf: Spiel und Gewaltsamkeit im Theater der Avantgarde (Apollinaires Les mamelles de Tirésias und Vitracs Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir)
• Apollinaire's Mamelles de Tiresias (1917) and Roger Vitrac's Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir (1928) are considered to be milestones in the theatre of the avant-garde. In these plays, comical and violent parts are closely related antagonists. Apollinaire's play culminates in a carnivalesque feast, where ethical values are jubilatorily expelled. The negative turns into a positive by comic devices. The violence gets at peace in a double sense: not only is the real background of war covered up in a joyful play, but the gender-struggle is suspended as well, through an 'act of procreation' in a new fantastic reality. However, Vitrac's piece includes far more pessimistic views on its time. The play unfolds in such negative manner that even the comic elements get spoiled. Domestic light theatre with its 'harmless' transgression of norms is dumped in the abyss of a cruel laughter, closely linked to the power of death. The two pieces employ extreme and even opposed possibilities to put comicApollinaire's Mamelles de Tiresias (1917) and Roger Vitrac's Victor ou les enfants au pouvoir (1928) are considered to be milestones in the theatre of the avant-garde. In these plays, comical and violent parts are closely related antagonists. Apollinaire's play culminates in a carnivalesque feast, where ethical values are jubilatorily expelled. The negative turns into a positive by comic devices. The violence gets at peace in a double sense: not only is the real background of war covered up in a joyful play, but the gender-struggle is suspended as well, through an 'act of procreation' in a new fantastic reality. However, Vitrac's piece includes far more pessimistic views on its time. The play unfolds in such negative manner that even the comic elements get spoiled. Domestic light theatre with its 'harmless' transgression of norms is dumped in the abyss of a cruel laughter, closely linked to the power of death. The two pieces employ extreme and even opposed possibilities to put comic potential into artpractice of the avant-garde.…