2 DRAMATIC TEXT

Drama is a literary text that depicts action via dialogues of acting characters and
authorial notes (i.e. description of physical action of actors, place and time
circumstances etc.). (Zvodsk 1966, p.4)

One of the specific signs of a dramatic text is its ambiguity from the point of
view of the approach of the audience. While watching a theatre play, we are not mere
spectators but also listeners. Such kind of a dual parallel perception does not appear in
any other art than in the dramatic (theatrical). In front of a picture, building or a statue
we are pure spectators, while watching a poetical or musical piece we are pure listeners.

Drama is a type of an artistic literature that depicts action and conflicts (i.e. actions that
encounter resistance). Unlike a poet who states his emotions naturally, the author of a
theatre play expresses his intentions via acting characters. A novel includes depictions
of nature and ways of life as well as socially psychological conflicts. A drama, on the
other hand, develops the action in the form of dialogues of the characters and notes,
describing the actions and events. Dramatic dialogue is thus a bridge between two
actions, it is a result of one action and cause of another. (Volkentejn 1963, p.3)

Dramatic text is not only a plain dialogue but it is a unique formation with a rhythm,
and phase. (J. Mistrk quoted in Kufnerov, Skoumalov 1994, p.140)

A dramatic piece includes two inseparable and various units, the visible (optical)
and the audible (acoustic). Zich (Zich 1986, p.19) describes a dramatic work as that of
time. It takes place in a real time and accepts its qualities, among all its transience. Each
dramatic piece exists only for a particular time. It starts in a particular moment, it lasts
for a certain time and finally it finishes. According to Zich before and after these time
points the drama does not exist.

Limitation of a real acting time and the intensivity of a dramatic time requires a
different organisation perception than that emerging from an unlimited and extensive
time of a novel. Whereas we live through the novel in a longer period of time, a
dramatic text requires our attention similar to that of the audience. Such perceptional

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concretizing time is indirectly and approximately indicated by a dramatic text. (Luke
1987, p.131)

At each dramatic piece we can furthermore distinguish two basic components. The
characters of a dramatic piece and the scene of a play.
Dramatic text does not include the dramatic and scenic comments (see chapter 2.3) and
it consists of words and structures having independent meaning, as the actors utter them.
Any particular section of a script is uttered by a particular character of the play and that
is why such sections are preceded by the name of the character.

Marking the names of speakers before the rejoinders is essential. Without those the
script would not prove itself to be a proper dramatic text, it would be chaotic and
incomprehensible. (Luke 1987, p.34)

Hereafter, Zvodsk (Zvodsk 1966, p.3) states that a theatrically staged text
differs from a written script. Script of a drama is only a structure that says much about
the depicted characters (mainly their inner world and relationships), about the events,
but it says little about the physical acting of the characters, about their gestures, facial
gestures, their arrangement within the stage etc. A theatre production develops from a
dramaturgically-directorial interpretation of a script and its scenic concretization.

We may notice the most essential difference between the script of a playwright and its
final stage production at comparison of a dramatic character (characterized by
playwrights text) and an acting character (performed by an actor on the basis of the
playwrights script). Characters of a drama are relatively schematic, in comparison with
characters of a novel; thanks to the gaps in characterization the actors are given an
opportunity to interpret the characters artistically and to flesh out their qualities on
stage. Therefore the same dramatic character (e.g. Othello by Shakespeare) may be
interpreted by various actors throughout the centuries; those interpretations differ from
each other and still proceed from the same original script. (Zvodsk 1966, p.3)

Every sentence and utterance included in a dramatic text has two dramatic
functions. First of all, these utterances define the characters and secondly they create the
part of the whole dramatic action. The interaction of dramatic characters is conditioned
by temporal and spatial solidarity. The solidarity changes during the play as the actors

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are entering and leaving the stage. The relationship between dramatic acts may be
defined as a dramatic situation.
According to Zich any dramatic situation is characterized by a number of protagonists
who take place in it.

We may distinguish several groups of performers. Some of them are soloists,

performing the leading roles, some of them are passive protagonists who usually
perform in a group (crowd, entourage) and their individualities are lost in the group
acting. Their task is to characterize the social background of the play where the leading
roles are acting. In dramatic plays such a crowd is given opportunity to express minimal
utterances as it might become unclear and inaudible. That is why the crowd usually
expresses only utterances such as approval or resistance where the meaning of the
words is not as important. (Zich 1986, p.130)

Zich (Zich 1986, p.177) furthermore comments on the scene of a dramatic piece, which
is the space where actors perform. The stage becomes a scene only when the actors act
there during a play. These actors, real people, necessarily belong to the scene. Actors
perform dramatic characters and create together a dramatic action. A scene is thus a
space where a dramatic action is created.

2.1 DRAMATIC DIALOGUE

Dialogue is a form of mostly linguistic interaction between to say the least two
participants of a conversation. It represents most of all a naturally present form of a
language expression. While forming a dialogue, a retrogressive dependency is
essential. (Prochzka 1988, p.49)

Dramatic dialogue is a specific literary genre that requires a specific approach

while being translated. On the contrary from a literary text of books the meaning of a
dramatic dialogue is enriched and supplemented by intonation, expressions, gestures
and movements of the actors. These supplementary features are necessary to fulfil the
mission of the dramatic dialogue. The translator of such a piece of work has therefore to
think not only about the written form of the translation but also about its interpretation
on stage. Naturally, the best condition for translating a dramatic dialogue is the
possibility to see the particular performance in its original version. But not every time

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this is possible. That is why the translator has to be particularly careful and sensitive
while translating a theatre piece. What looks satisfying on the paper might not
necessarily sound good on the stage and vice versa.

While commenting on the translation of a dramatic dialogue and a dramatic piece Lev
states:

The attitude of the translator towards any play shall be flexible, once concentrating on
accurate formulation of the meaning, the other time concentrating on style and
intonation. As it results from the theatre experience, the texts of theatre plays are often
reduced, not only the whole rejoinders are crossed out but also the sequences (e.g.
clown acts in Shakespeare etc.) or the characters ( Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern in
Hamlet etc.), without changing the play appreciably. The script only represents an
expedient and not the goal of a play. Particular features participate in the creation of
scenic images to a different extent and in specific ways. (Lev 1963, p.111 and 115)

Translators conception of the protagonists of the play is necessarily connected with

the sense of the whole play. The characters are mainly interpreted via the style of
expressing themselves. Dramatic translation ordinarily fulfils two functions: it is
supposed to be read and it is a base for a stage production. The qualities of a translation
are applied under different conditions within a dramatic processing. The actor has a
number of acoustic means not depicted by the text available (sentence stress, intonation,
etc.) and he can thus correct various stylistic imperfections of the translation.
Translators interpretation of the characters and stylistic perception of the genre of a
play are essential for the stage production. (Lev 1963, p.139)

Moreover, Lev describes a dramatic dialogue as an utterance, a specific case of

spoken language that has a functional relation to a) the colloquial norm of a spoken
language (i.e. colloquial Czech), b) the listener (addressee), i.e. other characters on stage
and in the audience and c) the speaker, i.e. a dramatic character.

Universally, a dramatic dialogue is a piece of spoken text that is intended to be

performed and listened to. That is why a complicated phonetic connections and easily
mishearable structures are rather unsuitable. Conversely, the sentence structure of an
utterance is more important: it is easier to pronounce and to perceive shorter sentences
and clauses than complicated complex clauses with a hierarchy of subordinate
dependences. For these reasons it is arduous to translate especially late renaissance and
baroque plays such as Shakespeare.

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Modern dialogue better corresponds to a spoken language because of the way it
arranges the thoughts by a folk speaker. Nowadays this art is adapted by a non-
dramatic literature, too. Modern prose has developed the whole range of means such as
half-direct speech, inner monologue, flow of consciousness, but it has also learnt to
think dialogically, i.e. to depict the typical features of less stylised thinking. That is why
it appears the most instantly in a spoken expression. (Lev 1963, p.125)

According to Mukaovsk the stage dialogue includes, except for its active
participants, one more agent, i.e. the audience. It means that all direct participants of the
dialogue are accompanied by another participant, though incommunicative, who is
particularly important as everything that is said in a dramatic dialogue is intended for
the audience, to effect their mind. (Luke 1987, p.70)

Finally, to contrast the dramatic dialogue with a monologue, I shall add

Prochzkas (Prochzka 1988, p.44) definition of a monologue. He labels monologue
any utterance that does not directly require an immediate, appropriate and adequate
verbal (or non-verbal) reaction. In a monologue we may often find an expressive
function although it may simultaneously fulfil the other functions. Though it is the most
often case, there is no precondition that a monologue shall be pronounced by one
character (we may encounter cases of a developed monologue that may be created
gradually by the particular speakers, or even a collective monologue). It is necessary to
distinguish monologues that are not intended for any receiver (some of them may even
aim for an inner dialogic reaction) and monologues that suppose the presence of
listeners the audience (so called social forms of a monologue, e.g. story telling, a
lecture etc.). Monologue maintains its importance especially in the field of drama and
theatre.

In several periods of the development of drama monologue used to be a self-evident

convention. Particular characters were established to fulfil this convention. A character
of such a status may have had several tasks. To introduce the action, to comment on it,
to explain the turns of events, to introduce the essential circumstances and facts, etc.
Monologue always asserts and demarcates itself in a particular form of a relationship
towards a dialogue, only in this way it may gain particular limitation and
substantiation. (Prochzka 1988, p.46)

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2.2 THE LANGUAGE OF A DRAMATIC CHARACTER

The collection of emotions, volition and reason creates the dramatic character.
Character is a psychological term but from the point of view of aesthetics it represents
the protagonist of any dramatic piece. (Volkentejn 1963, p.48)

The characters of a drama act and communicate in a particular background.

There is a dialectic relationship between the character in dramatic text and the language,
(created by author or translator) that he speaks. The character influences the language
and the language is an expedient by which the role is characterized. The dramatic
character does not necessarily have to use the same language variety from the beginning
till the end of the play. Characters develop throughout the play and their language may
consequently change.

In relation to the speaker the rejoinder does not only denote objects, qualities and
actions about which the character is speaking but thanks to them the character describes
himself. (Lev 1963, p.116)

In a dramatic language the features of original verbal communication are

frequently used. I.e. gestures, facial expressions, pauses, paralinguistic moments that are
described by the author or the translator in scenic and authorial notes. The director of
the play may respect or ignore them.

Within the language of a dramatic character Luke (Luke 1987, p.63) distinguishes two
categories:

I/ Idiolect is a set of personal, psychological, ideological and stylistic features via

which we can recognize the originality and individuality of the author. The idiolect does
not only represent the way the characters speak but also what they talk about, i.e. the
extent and obsession of their themes via which the character releases his opinions,
emotions and intentions.

II/ Sociolect is a set of features of a speech that characterizes the speaker and his
affiliation to a social, professional, generational or regional group. The idiolect of any

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author is formed on the basis of a sociolect, that represents the authors affiliation to a
particular literary movement or style, to a historical genre or the whole period.

The expressive function of a dramatic speech is not represented only by a language

characterization of a dramatic character, it does not have an absolute validity and it does
not develop evenly but in dependance on a dramatic situation that is usually
implemented as a context of a higher importance. Blanket and one-dimensional
dramatic characters mostly of a comedic nature distinguish by an expressive and stable
idiolect. There is a tradition of a simple language characterization that may be a source
of a comic effect. On the other hand, in a serious dramatic genre the sociolect
characteristics predominates. On its background a striking, extrinsic personal idiolect
arises. The language characterization of the characters only represents an outer
distinction that is not carried by all the characters of a play. (Luke 1987, p.65)

Lev (Lev 1963, p.138) suggests that a good dramatist describes his characters
from within, their language expression is controlled by the character and not vice versa.
It would thus not be sensible if a playwright became a collector of language peculiarities
of the characters. His stylisation should arise out of his idea of the qualities of the
character and his development. Each role has its perspective: the character and his
relations to his opponents develop in front of the audiences eyes and some traits of the
character are supposed to be kept secret at the beginning. However, the translator
cognizes the whole development of the story and sometimes unfortunately expounds
this knowledge already in the first scenes.
The particular sections of the part of a dramatic character are not of the same
importance: we can say that even a language characteristics of characters has its
exposition and denouement. It is therefore advantageous to solve the first rejoinders of
the character on stage stylistically for they shall create its image for the audience.

Finally, I shall also mention Ferenks comment on the colloquiality of a stagy

language and a dramatic text.

Within the frame of stagy language and colloquiality of a dramatic text informal
features of a language are unfortunately used to such an extent, that they distort the
artistic and social intention of the author. The dialogue of a dramatic work is not only a
reproduction of a real conversation that has once happened somewhere, but it is an

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artistic stylisation that originates in the synopsis of authors experience. It has been
created as a result of conscious creative procedure and except for its original function of
understanding it fulfils many other functions acoustically-aesthetic, creation of
characters etc. In a dramatic piece not only dialogues appear but also rejoinders that are
uttered with no expectation of answer, monologues, conversations with imaginary
characters etc. Authors dialogue is consciously often not colloquial, noble, with long
sentences and literary stylistics that almost never appear in a real extract of
conversation. In a small formatively limited field of a dialogue the author characterizes
place, time, intellectual character of the protagonists and that is why he sensitively
chooses means of language characterization and creates a strictly structured text. And he
does so even in case he intentionally wants to describe the character via colloquial
language. Which means the colloquiality of a dramatic text is an artistic colloquiality
that uses several consciously applied means, also the informal ones, that are dialectical,
slangy, archaistic, poetic neologisms and conscious disruption of norms.
While creating a translational dramatic text, one has to bear in mind the norm of
transferring all features of the original version via adequate form into the translation.
The stagy language is reduced to a small amount of rather obligatory technically-
methodical instructions that intend to facilitate the pronunciation of hardly
pronounceable clusters of phonemes (if it is not the case of authors intention), to
improve the communicativeness with the spectator or listener considering the rules of
acoustics and demands of technique of reproduction or the aim to avert undesirable
comicality in an improper place. (Ferenk 1982, p.82)

2.3 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY TEXT OF A DRAMA

At any dramatic piece we may recognize outer and inner language of the script
that is also labelled as primary and secondary text of a drama by Luke (Luke 1987,
p.45).
The primary text of a drama is created by direct speech. The art of writing a
dramatic piece is based on the playwrights ability to create dramatic situations, mainly
via direct speech of dramatic characters, supported by the secondary dramatic text (i.e.
the inner language of a dramatic piece).
The direct speech is not a prerogative only of a drama. We may find it in epic and
lyrical genres, in essay writing and journalistic literary genres. Unlike in other genres
where the usage of a direct speech is voluntary, in drama it is obligatory. The object of
depiction in a drama is a human being as a speaking creature who is represented by the
playwright in a spoken situation.
Luke (Luke 1987, p.66) further suggests that drama is considered the most objective
of literary genres one of the reasons is the fact that the authorial speech fades out in
the set of foreign speeches of dramatic characters. Similarly to other artistic pieces,

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drama stands in a point of intersection of three relational moments: towards the depicted
reality (mimetic principle), towards the receiver (pragmatic principle) and towards the
author (expressive principle).

The secondary text affects any text that is presented to the readers as an integral
work. Such inner language of a text is the most noticeable in the form of notes
(annotations, references) that may be even longer than the primary text itself. The
secondary text is to be distinguished via the main graphic means such as its composition
on a special page, font, or brackets. It represents one of extrinsic specialities and
dissimilarities between a dramatic, epic or lyrical texts. Prevalently, the secondary text
penetrates the main text and that is why some readers get easily distracted or
discouraged from further reading. The secondary text of a drama is a set of information
that help the readers (or the audience) to understand the dramatic piece as a complex
structure. Such information may or may not be arranged in an aesthetic way although
they may also assume an aesthetic function.
A dramatic text, on the contrary from epic or lyrical texts, distinguishes by a
prominent two layer structure which is visible even in passages where the role of the
secondary text is diminished. The secondary text of a dramatic work varies in content
and extent. Every component that influences the reception of the dramatic text by
readers and its stage realization without being primarily intended for an acoustic or
visual realization comes under the secondary text of a drama.
Each part of the secondary dramatic text may be emphasized and transposed to the
main text in a consequential stage adaptation. If a dramatic author is able not only to
create a dramatic situation via direct speech but also to project it on stage via the
secondary dramatic text, as we expect - especially in modern theatre, the secondary text
may yet bear crucial meanings.

As Luke (Luke 1987, p.26) adds, in the broad sense of the word, the secondary
text of a drama includes the name of the author, the title and subtitle of the play and
usually also the marking of the genre. Such introductory information set the horizon of
readers expectations, depending on his experience, personal appreciation and taste.
The list of dramatic characters represents another component of the secondary dramatic
text, having the highest informational value of all. It is the first noticeable extrinsic

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identification feature of any dramatic text. Unlike in Shakespeares plays where we may
not find the list of characters, the modern tendency leads to mentioning the basic
information - social status, relationships and age.
Various theatre houses often rearrange the set of introducotry information. They append
the name of the translator to the playwrights, change the title of the play, omit or
change the subtitle, they create a list of characters that was not originally present in the
play, shorten or change the description of the characters, etc.

2.4 FINAL COMMENTS ON FURTHER QUALITIES OF A DRAMATIC TEXT

In general, each dramatic piece represents a synthesis of several expressional
components. Only one out of five basic expressional elements is typical for theatre the
dramatic component. The dramatic component is formed equally by a directorial and
actor's part. We may find the following four components in other independent arts: the
visual, literary, dance and music.

Another essential feature to deal with within a dramatic piece is its subject:

The subject of a dramatic piece is represented by the most consequential circumstances

and the most important events and phases of the dramatic action. While constructing
and developing the subject the sequence of events is important. It may be constructed
according to the genre and style of the play, according to the composition or possibility
or impossibility to develop a pithy dialogue in a particular scene. (Volkentejn 1963,
p.48)

Finally, any dramatic piece cannot do without a dramatic action. The dramatic
action can be fulfilled via monologues, dialogues or in a non-verbal way, via physical
acting. Volkentejn is among others dealing with the moments of interruption of a
dramatic action:

Dramatic action is practically continuous. The moments of interruption usually appear

besides the dialogues. They include the moments of a laughter in a comedy that
prevents the actors from continuing in acting, moments of ceremonies, and moments of
peaceful rest, usually at the beginning of the act. Last but not least moments are those of
the reflexion and didactic intention. Songs of old Greek choir and tragic situations
might be mentioned here. (Volkentejn 1963, p.22)

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