From exalted emotionality to indifference and scepticism: On emotions in selected contemporary Slovak plays after 1990

Abstract

Contemporary Slovak drama is dominated by male characters who are not heroes in the true sense of the word; they undergo a crisis of masculinity and can not face reality, which leads to male negativism, cruelty, and manipulation. These states, along with the structural transformation of the play and dramatic personae, unleash a wide range of emotions and a spectrum of expression. The subject of interest is seven emblematic dramatic texts from the post-1990 period by E. Maliti-Fraňová, the group of authors of the SkRAT theatre and D. Vicen, D. Gombár and M. Karásek. The article focuses on male emotions, especially the negative ones like fear, anger, anxiety, jealousy, envy, resignation, and scepticism.