THEATER IN THE AESTHETICS OF THE “YOUNG VIENNA” GROUP

The article examines “theater” as a cultural and artistic universal that served as a means ofThe article examines “theater” as a cultural and artistic universal that served as a means of developing mindset and self-identity of the Austrian literary group “Young Vienna” at the thth turn of the 19 and 20 centuries. Theater as a metaphor of the human life becomes integral part of the poetics in the works of the group members. The essay examines ideas and fictional worlds of the writers belonging to the group against the context of their contemporary culture. It touches upon Russian perception of the aesthetics of Viennese theater (A. Block, A.J. Tairov) and involves retrospective evidences and reflections of Austrian authors (Stefan thth weig, G. Broch) on Vienna at the turn of the 19 and 20centuries. As soon as Habsburgs’ empire loses its political positions, the theatrical illusion becomes more and more important. Yet it is the “Young Vienna” that makes the idea of the theater all-pervading: this concept includes both the motif of hopeless masquerade (Schnitzler) and the motif of liberation from the false play of masks (Hofmannsthal). According to the concept of the group’s mastermind H. Bahr, the theater played essential role in the spiritual and aesthetic integration of Austria. References to the mystery genre, the street theater, the puppet theater may be traced in the plays written by the members of the group. Austrian authors reconstructed folk plays that enabled the mactualize primordial theatrical forms and inspired them to subtly play with these forms. For the “Young Vienna” group, theater becomes a projection of doubts and misgivings of their time. In place of a jaded actor, there comes a person without a mask who appears at once unprotected and open to acquire his or her “true” face.