Dramatic Narrative: Elements, Structure, and Styles
Key Elements of Dramatic Narrative
The texts also appear to have dramatic narrative aspects. These are the explanations that the playwright puts in his text. Technically, they are called stage directions. The dialogue is the basic component of the drama, and it gives dynamism. Gestural elements are also used to enhance the expressiveness of the character; this is referred to as mimicry.
- Monologue: The character reflects on relevant issues.
- Soliloquy: The character expresses disjointed and sometimes trivial issues.
Dramatic Dialogue vs. Narrative Dialogue
- Dramatic Dialogue (Theater): Employs a live style.
- Narrative Dialogue (Novel): Combines direct and indirect styles.
Structure of Dramatic Works
- Internal Structure:
- Introduction
- Development and Climax
- Denouement
- External Structure: Typically divided into 3 acts that correspond to the internal structure.
- Scenes: The core components of an act, marked by the entrances and exits of characters within a specific space.
- Tables: Indicate a change of situation within a scene.
Aesthetic Concepts of Drama
- Tragedy: Represents the struggle of man against adversity stronger than himself. This evokes feelings of fear in the audience while purifying the action or releasing emotions (catharsis). It often originates from the greatness of the hero or their actions.
- The Pathetic: Arises from the contemplation of human suffering that moves us without being actually tragic.
- The Comic: Springs from situations created by misunderstandings and entanglements that produce joy in the audience. When the humor is disproportionate, it is considered ridiculous. Humor is a game that belittles what equates the transcendent and the inconsequential, such as daily life.
- Bourgeois Comedy: Reflects the vices and virtues of the bourgeoisie (e.g., Jacinto Benavente).
- Theater of Manners: Characterized by easy humor.
- Astracan Theater: Features easy jokes and grotesque comedy that combines the tragic and the comic, melodramatic elements, and caricature.
Valle Inclán and García Lorca: Renovators of Theater
Valle Inclán and García Lorca are key figures in the renovation of theater.
- Valle Inclán: Emphasizes the creation of esperpento, a grotesque art that caricatures reality. His work is divided into cycles: modernist, mythical, farce, esperpento, and the final cycle.
- García Lorca: Elevates popular motifs to the category of tragic myths.
Aristotelian vs. Epic Theater
- Aristotelian Theater: Represents the world as seen by the ruling classes. It is a conservative, eternal drama guided by the rule of three unities: a single subject or action, one place, and one day’s duration.
- Epic or Dialectic Theater: Depicts the everyday world for the working class. It is socially committed and revolutionary, featuring a multiplicity of times and places with a story told in many episodes.
Miguel Mihura: Humor and Tenderness
Miguel Mihura’s poetic or aesthetic ideas are characterized by humor and tenderness as fundamental substances of his theater. He distorts reality, creating a unique dramatic universe. This is achieved through imaginative power and poetic fancy. Mihura cultivates a linguistic code based on paradox, producing shocking effects through absurd situations. His humor stems from ingenuity and imaginative freedom, addressing conflicts of varying depth with a satirical yet affable view, without being cruel to the characters. Mihura is generally considered a member of the “theater of the absurd.”