Exploring the Boundaries between the Living and the Dead Through Jean Genet’s Macabre Theatre

Abstract

The paper takes theatre as its optic to help expand and illuminate extant perceptions about corpses, burials, and cemeteries. The first part of the paper is dedicated to the methods of and purposes for burying the corpse in the context of theories expounded by Sigmund Freud, Bronislaw Malinowski, and Julia Kristeva. Throughout the paper, cemeteries are regarded not only as formal and religious places where the remains of the dead are interred but also as sites of action and observation – the sites where the veiling and unveiling of the remains take place. The arguments are further examined through the work of French playwright Jean Genet, especially in the light of his play The Screens and his essay “That Strange Word…”, which can be regarded either as Genet’s site-specific plan for staging The Screens or as his reflection on the significance of theatre in general.