The Critical Panopticon: Essays in the Theatre and Contemporary Aesthetics (American University Studies Series Xxvi Theatre Arts)

A collection of essays that stands witness to the diverse methodologies which have shaped contemporary readings of dramatic texts and analyses of play productions. The essays exhibit a pluralistic approach to aesthetics, incorporating conceptual discoveries in modern philosophy, psychology, political thought, linguistics, semiology, and social anthropology. The works of such authors as Louis Althusser, Gilles Deleuze and Jean-François Lyotard are studied for their relevance to a new understanding of drama and theatre criticism.