Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The primary focus of this article is on the deconstruction of language within the context of glossolalia and the Theatre of the Absurd. Following World War II, the expression of absurdity in the literature and theatre gave rise to the Theatre of the Absurd as an anti-literary movement. Glossolalia appears both in the first Christian communities and within the charismatic renewal movement in modern times and refers to the gift of speaking in tongues. The objective of comparing these two occurrences is to identify their similarities and differences in their treatment of the language. Both glossolalia and the Theatre of the Absurd contain destructive aspects as they disintegrate language, but they also contain creative elements; glossolalia is prayer, and the Theatre of the Absurd has artistic merit. To consider the extent to which language deconstruction might serve as a prelude to creative endeavours, this analogy appears to be significant.
Source: Religions
DOI: 10.3390/rel16081052
Author: Antonia Čačić
Institution: University of Zagreb
Language: English
Topic: Samuel Beckett and Modernism
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7084066774