An Investigation of Tragedy Theory Through Ingeborg Bachmann’s Play "The Good God of Manhattan"

Abstract

The definition of tragedy as a genre of theatre starts with Aristotle's Poetics, but the theory of tragedy has modified and transformed to a large extent between the 4th century BC to today. This transformation is related to the formal features of tragedy as well as the cognitive meaning of tragic. In this study, the essential characteristics of tragedy and the status of the tragic in modern tragedy theory are investigated through Ingeborg Bachmann’s play “The Good God of Manhattan”. Therefore, first of all, the basic elements that compose tragedy, the way of setting these elements up and the scope of tragic are examined. Then, the modernist evolution of tragedy theory and the pluralization of tragic that was experienced as a result of this evolution are investigated. By discovering the clear differences between ancient tragedy and modern tragedy, it has been tried to explain the meaning of tragic in tragedy theory. Finally, the play “The Good God of Manhattan” is examined through information and indications obtained from this research. Thus, the relation of the text with both ancient tragedy and modern tragedy is determined. By examining the formal elements and cognitive layers of the text through the theory of tragedy, the genre of the play is defined. As a result; it is aimed both to make the status of “The Good God of Manhattan” clear in the theory of tragedy, and to reveal fundamental characteristics of tragedy as a genre of theatre.