Calderón's World Theatre of Celebration: 'Aesthetical Theodicy' as a Perspective on the Baroque Theatrum Mundi

Beskrivelse

Calderón’s El gran teatro del mundo famously ends with shouts of exaltation and joy and an apology of the play, yet this seminal drama is situated in a time of social-political crisis, and several of the play’s characters express grave feelings towards the human condition. The paper will suggest a way to understand why Calderón still fashioned a theatrum mundi of celebration and not one of metaphysical pessimism otherwise popular at the time. This will be done with a focus on the historical development of the auto sacramental and a reading of the drama with intratextual reference to Calderón’s thoughts on the purpose of the genre. The paper thus suggests that in both historical and systematic perspective, Calderón’s world theatre can and should still be seen in the light of celebration and of a certain form of theodicy, namely a defense of the world as a work of art

Periode	21. apr. 2021
Begivenhedstitel	Renaissance Society of America (RSA) 2021-Virtual
Begivenhedstype	Konference
Placering	USAVis på kort
Grad af anerkendelse	International