Closed and Open Dramatic Form in Cankar

Abstract

The essay is a formal-aesthetic analysis of three plays by Ivan Cankar, Kralj na Betajnovi (1901), Pohujšanje v dolini šentflorjanski (1907) and Lepa Vida (1911). Through the application of Klotz’s theory on closed and open dramatic forms, the dramatic categories of place, time, character, action, composition and language were analyzed in individual plays. The results of individual analyses were explained from the position of the entire dramatic text in its historical context. Through the analysis I show that Cankar knew both ideal types in a sufficiently representative form; Kralj na Betajnovi is an example of a predominantly closed dramatic form, while Lepa Vida has a mainly open form. We were particularly interested in the modifications of both ideal types, since Cankar never entirely submits to either. It was in divergence that the author’s creativity and originality were recognized. These deviations from the types were traced through individual dramatic categories. As a rule, dramatic place and time have no special features which immediately place them in a closed dramatic form. Only in Pohujšanje v dolini šentflorjanski and Lepa Vida does dramatic place, which exemplifies features typical of open form, explicitly play a part in the effectiveness of the dramatic situation and the establishment of dramatic action. In the category of dramatic characters we can find psychologically complex and typical characters that in many respects better suit the category of characters in an open form; in this connection we might mention the complex configuration of dramatic characters, typical of Cankar, who are linked to psychologically complex characters. The dramatic action of Cankar’s plays is mainly classical in structure, though he allowed his creativity and genius freedom in the categories of dramatic composition and language. As a compositional medium we find, among other features, the intertwining of semantic and metaphorical fields (Kralj na Betajnovi, Lepa Vida), a prop (a gun in Kralj na Betajnovi), a contrast of dramatic stage (Lepa Vida), the onstage configuration of characters. In Cankar's plays, language has a particularly superior position compared to other categories because, in addition to its primary purpose, it functions as a means of indirect characterization, a means to achieve comical effects and irony, a means of intensifying the tension of dramatic action, a compositional means, and even as a stage element. Discussing the correlation between a certain historical period and both fundamental tendencies in this case entails a consideration of (psychological) realism and symbolism. During the analysis I established that the symbolism in Cankar’s Lepa Vida can, without any special reservations, be linked to open form; on the other hand, plays which were written in a realistic style (Kralj na Betajnovi), are related mainly to closed form.