Variations of Temptation —: Václav Havel's Politics of Language

Variations of Temptation Vaclav Havel's Politics of Language MARKETA GOETZ-STANKIEWICZ .. , truth is not merely what we are thinking. but also why, to whom and under what circumstances we say it. (Temptation, Scene 6) When approaching a play by V~clav Havel, a critic or commentator is bound to have certain preconceptions. He knows that Havel is one of the most famous "dissidents" of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, that none of his plays has been performed in official theatres there, that he has been harassed and imprisoned several times during the last dozen years. (In 1979-1983 he was incarcerated for four years; in early 1989 he was imprisoned again, after being charged with "incitement".) Despite all tbis (or is it because of it?), his eloquent politico-philosophical essays as well as his plays have been translated into and performed in many languages. Here, critics are bound to argue, we obviously have a literary figure whose life and writings are so closely interwoven with the political situation in his country that we have a ready-made package-deal guide to the interpretation of his works. Journalists, reviewers, and academic commentators have seemed to follow this obvious approach and discussed Havel's writings largely as the direct outcome of what he has been observing in his own society. The "dissident playwright"label has stuck hard and fast to Havel's image. But does it do him justice? In this essay I propose to peel off the label and let the reader decide whether he wishes to stick it back on again after - and if - he or she has read my remarks. In true Havelesque spirit we must first clarify some assumptions: What is "political theatre"? Is not drama, dealing mostly with human conflicts and tensions, "political" by its very nature? However, as we wisely put aside this vast question, other related questions begin to sprout like mushrooms after a warm rain. Let us take some examples. Is Hamlet a political play? Brecht certainly thought so. Is Medea's monomania a political statement made by Euripides, as 94 MARKETA GOETZ-STANKlEWICZ Jan Kott felt it was? Is Hochhuth's The Deputy a political play? "Of course," answers the fictional drama critic to whom we now give the floor; "after all, it deals with Pope Pius XII's collaboration with Hitler." Camus's Le Malentendu? "Yes, because it portrays characters whose hope for a better existence drives them to murder." Tom Stoppard's Professiollal Foul? "Yes, ofcourse; the play features a smuggled manuscript, a philosophical text that was considered subversive by a totalitarian government." Peter Handke's Kaspar? "Yes indeed, because it shows the process by which an innocent mind is moulded to perceive the world in a way approved of by an ailing society." Peter Shaffer's Amadeus? "Why certainly; after all, it shows how a genius is ignored by a stupid and bigoted regime while a mediocre musical hack is allowed to flourish... It is clear that these admittedly random references will not lead us anywhere. But neither, let it be said, do many of the numerous volumes that have been written on "political theatre." In his impressive Geschichte des politischen Theaters, which is perhaps most useful in our context, Siegfried Melchinger argues that plays from the past deserve to be called "political theatre" only if they are still playahle, in other words meaningful, today. This, Melchinger stresses, does not mean that "political theatre" treats politics in the light of "eternal values"; I it must concretely show whatever we mean by "politics" (power, ruling systems, war, violence) and must make the audience go through the process of recognizing an experience by seeing it acted out. In Havel's case, the audience that would "recognize" its own experience in his plays has not been able to see a play by Havel for the last twenty years. But this does not mean that we, his contemporaries under another political system, do not undergo some process of recognizing our own experience. To explore this, let us first go back to Havel and to a more pragmatic beginning. In the afterword to a selection of his plays written in 1976 Havel ironically defines...