Peter Hacks: Sechs Stuecke nach Stuecken.

Abstract

Written in German, the dissertation examines six adaptations by Peter Hacks: Die Kindermorderin, after Heinrich Leopold Wagner; Polly, after John Gay; Noch einen Loffel Gift, Liebling?, after Saul O'Hara; Das Jahrmarktsfest zu Plundersweilern and Pandora, after Goethe; and Barby, after Rudi Strahl. The dissertation compares each adaptation with its original, focussing on the elements of structure, language, characterization and humor. The nature and extent of Hacks' changes are discussed both with regard to the original play and as illustrations of the playwright's artistic and political development. A personal interview in East Berlin in July 1989 provides additional background. Hacks has been severely criticized for his apparently unquestioning compliance with the GDR party line. However, careful analysis demonstrates that while the first two adaptations clearly reflect Socialist values and attitudes in their penetrating criticism of bourgeois, capitalist society, his later ones offer surprising evidence of his growing disenchantment with the former GDR. This evolution is reflected in the plays he chooses to adapt, as well as in a shift in tone: from good humored portrayal of human foibles, to bitter sarcasm directed at the Honecker regime. Letters from Hacks provide unexpected new information leading to a radical clarification of authorial intent in Pandora. However, in marked contrast to Hacks' political evolution, analysis of his adaptations demonstrates the playwright's unwavering confidence in the artist's significant role in society, his emphasis on the primary role of love, and his positive portrayal of women. The dissertation traces Hacks' extensive and effective use of such devices as an abrupt alteration of the level of discourse, characters' self-contradictory statements and asides, form-content dichotomy, destruction of the theatrical illusion by references to the real world and the art of the playwright, and various manifestations of irony. Comparison of each adaptation with the author's theoretical writings illustrates the varying degree to which he follows his own precepts as set forth in a "cathechism" on adaptations. A literature survey reveals not only a wide range of audience reaction to Hacks' plays, but also a disparity in assessment by scholars of literature and theater critics.