An Exploration On The Playwriting Practice Of Brecht’s "Verfremdungseffekt"

This thesis aims to explore the practice of “Verfremdungseffekt” in playwriting,based on the content of the original play This Is Not My Ocean and the author’s reflections during the creative process.Brecht’s Episches Theater is a thorough rebellion against Aristotelian dramatic traditions,and Verfremdungseffekt is its most fundamental principle of creation,which insists on amazement and criticism in replacement of resonance and empathy,in order to inspire the audience to actively comprehend as well as transform the world.Starting from three important dramatic elements,namely “structure”,“character” and“language”,this thesis elaborates the feasible playwriting techniques that could put Verfremdungseffekt into practice.First,a dramatist should organically combine narrations with dramatic scenes and break the rigid unity of time,space and plot,so as to form a flexible and open structure,leaving space for the audience’s active acceptance.The second is to endow the characters with diverse identities,build dynamic relationships among them as well as portray dialectically unified figures,in order to suppress the audience’s negative resonance and stimulate their rational consciousness.At last,it is significant to deepen the poetic nature and philosophical connotations of dramatic language,which helps convey the essential thinking about nature,society and human life.Applying above methods to realize Verfremdungseffekt in a script not only makes the play a more comprehensive and profound reflection of reality,but also helps the audience achieve a more positive and dialectical understanding of reality.In this way,both the aesthetic and social values of dramatic art will be intensified.