"Don't Touch Me": Rethinking the Politics of Distance in Space Organization

@proceedings{13416,
   author = {Motal, Jan},
   booktitle = {The Ever-expanding Horizons of Theatre 2021},
   keywords = {covid-19; dialogue; distance; stage; dramatic situation},
   language = {eng},
   title = {"Don't Touch Me": Rethinking the Politics of Distance in Space Organization},
   url = {https://www.theatreconferencejamu.cz/en/book-proceeding/the-ever-expanding-horizons-of-theatre/lecture/don-t-touch-me-rethinking-the-politics-of-distance-in-space-organization},
   year = {2023}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 13416
AU  - Motal, Jan
PY  - 2023
TI  - "Don't Touch Me": Rethinking the Politics of Distance in Space Organization
KW  - covid-19
KW  - dialogue
KW  - distance
KW  - stage
KW  - dramatic situation
UR  - https://www.theatreconferencejamu.cz/en/book-proceeding/the-ever-expanding-horizons-of-theatre/lecture/don-t-touch-me-rethinking-the-politics-of-distance-in-space-organization
N2  - In 2020, ‘distance’ became synonymous to freedom deprivation. Many governments all around the world introduced severe restrictions on people’s movement to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Depressions were not the only outcome of these regulations. On the other hand, people experienced a widening of their inner sphere, which led to self-reflection and critical evaluation of the world. The restrictions did not prevent them from feeling empathy, proving that attachment is not contradictory to distance. This paper employs this global experience to offer a present-day reading of Martin Buber‘s ‘Das Raumproblem der Bühne’ (1913), an essay initially written for the avant-garde theatre in Hellerau. Buber sees the spectator‘s dialectical feeling of both the distance and immersion in the space (Raumgefühl) as a necessary condition for the emergence of dialogue. To this end, the stage must be detached, and the audience separated from the actors. This conception differs radically from Brecht‘s anti-illusionism. The philosopher defends the ritualistic conditions of theatre space and the importance of distance and stratification of scenic relations. This paper attempts to show that the detachment can be fruitful for an intrapersonal reflection and is necessary for democratic reasoning. It employs the communication theory of Philippe Breton based on the assumption that intériorité is the condition sine qua non of democracy which qualifies democratic competence. The presented argument shows that the fusion of actors and spectators is politically indefensible. From the ontological perspective of critical realism, the author argues that ‘liminality’ echoes the structure of neoliberal ideology and should be avoided in any valid democratic endeavour. Only if the organization of space in the theatre preserves differences and therefore protects a person’s integrity does it maintain their unique social experience. From this point of view, the new experience of social distancing can be recontextualized in a progressive political way, not only in the theatre but in public spaces as well.
ER  - 

MOTAL, Jan. ''Don't Touch Me'': Rethinking the Politics of Distance in Space Organization. In \textit{The Ever-expanding Horizons of Theatre 2021}. 2023.