A New Poetics of Chekhov's Major Plays: Presence Through Absence

One Century After The Death Of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), His Plays Are Celebrated Throughout The World As A Major Milestone In The History Of Theater And Drama. Outside The Russian-speaking Community, He Is Undoubtedly The Most Widely Translated, Studied, And Performed Of All Russian Writers. His Plays Are Characterized By Their Evasiveness: Tragedy And Comedy, Realism And Naturalism, Symbolism And Impressionism, As Well As Other Labels Of School And Genre, All Of Which Fail To Account For The Uniqueness Of His Artistic System And Worldview. Presence Through Absence Is A Bold Attempt To Map The Unique Structure And Meaning That Comprise Chekhov's Immensely Rich Artistic Universe. Harai Golomb Explores All The Prime Components Of Chekhov's Theatrical Technique: Text Construction, Themes And Ideas, Scenes, Dialogue, Plot, And Interaction Between Verbal And Nonverbal Elements. His Timeless Works Are Shown With Rare Insight And Clarity To Have Artistic Principles And Coherence Above And Beyond The Scope Of The Individual Play. Previewing: Basic Principles Of Chekhov's Poetics -- Basic Principles Of Chkhovian Thematics (what?) - Opening The Book's Outer Circle -- Basic Principles Of Chechovian Composition (how?) -- Viewing: Checkhov's Dramatic Text And World -- Starts That Fit: The Curtain Rises On A Chekhov Play - Opening The Book's Inner Circle -- Dramaticality, 'dramaticalness', Theatricality, Dual Fictionality -- Character And Characterisation (who?) -- Communicating (in) Chekhov -- Restraining Order: Repression Of Expression As Pressurised Explosiveness -- Tea Of 'philisopising'?: Hierarchising Ideas And Values -- The End(ing)s Justify The Mean(ing)s: The Curtain Falls On A Chekhov Play - Closing The Book's Inner Circle -- Overviewing: A Comprehensive Look -- Chekhovism Viewed From Beyond Its Boundaries: Comparative-contrastive Perspectives -- Chekhov And Posterity - Closing The Book's Outer Circle Front Cover; Title Page; Praise; Half Title; Copyright; Contents; Foreword By Prof. Donald Rayfield; Preface: About And Around The Book; Acknowledgements; Cover And Plate Section Illustrations; Part I: Previewing -- Basic Principles Of Chekhov's Poetics; 1 Basic Principles Of Chekhovian Thematics (what?) -- Opening The Book's Outer Circle; 1.1 Presence Through Absence/unrealised Potential: Formulating A Chekhovian Universal; 1.2 Thematic Structuration In Three Sisters: Trichotomies; 1.2.1 An Example: Education And Learning; 1.2.2 Other Themes. 1.3 Building A (textual) Character: Doing, Talking, Wishing1.4 Building A Text: Compositional Implications Of The Principle Of Unrealised Potentials/presence Through Absence; 1.5 Negation Vs. Annulment: Conservation Of Artistic Mass; 1.6 Paradoxes Of The (un)realisability Of Chekhov's Art; 2 Basic Principles Of Chekhovian Composition (how?); 2.0 Preliminary Remarks: Chekhov The Structuralist?; 2.1 A Theoretical Complex Of Complexity; 2.1.1 The Complex, The Simple, And The Complicated; 2.1.2 Two Types Of Complexity; 2.2 Saturated Complexity: Shakespeare's Plays As Paradigm. 2.3 Unsaturated Complexity: Chekhov's Plays As Paradigm2.4 A Third Ideal Of Complexity: 'strong' Parts, 'weak' Wholes; 2.4.1 Saturated Complexity Misplaced: Poe's The Raven As Paradigm; 2.4.2 Chekhov's Complexity Vs. Shakespeare's And The Raven's; 2.5 Conclusion: Investment And Interest; Part Ii: Viewing -- Chekhov's Dramatic Text And World; 3 Starts That Fit: The Curtain Rises On A Chekhov Play -- Opening The Book's Inner Circle; 3.0 Truisms And Preliminary Theoretical Considerations; 3.0.1 Frame/text-boundaries: Starting Points; 3.0.2 Authorial Presence: What's In A Name (personal)? 3.0.3 Titles Of Plays: What's In A Name (textual)?3.0.4 Genre-subtitles; 3.0.5 Skipping The List Of Personages; 3.0.6 Initial Stage Directions (isd); 3.0.7 The Ending Of The Beginning: The Spoken Dialogue Starts; 3.1 The Beginning Of The Seagull; 3.1.1 The Title; 3.1.2 The Subtitle; 3.1.3 The Initial Stage Directions And Their Context In The Play; 3.1.4 The Ending Of The Beginning: The Spoken Dialogue Starts; 3.2 The Beginning Of Uncle Vánia; 3.2.1 The Title; 3.2.2 The Subtitle; 3.2.3 The Initial Stage Directions; 3.2.4 The Ending Of The Beginning: The Spoken Dialogue Starts. 3.3 The Beginning Of Three Sisters3.3.1 The Title; 3.3.2 The Subtitle; 3.3.3 The Initial Stage Directions; 3.3.4 The Ending Of The Beginning: The Spoken Dialogue Starts; 3.4 The Beginning Of The Cherry Orchard; 3.4.1 The Title; 3.4.2 The Subtitle; 3.4.3 The Initial Stage Directions; 3.4.4 The Ending Of The Beginning: The Spoken Dialogue Starts; 4 Dramaticality, 'dramaticalness', Theatricality, Dual Fictionality; 4.0 Introduction: Is Chekhov A Playwright?; 4.1 Terminology: Drama, Dramaticality, 'dramaticalness', Etc.; 4.1.0 Preliminary Considerations. Harai Golomb. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

• Casts new light on how Chekhov's plays can be interpreted and enacted.
• The author explores all the prime components of Chekhov's theatrical technique: text construction, themes and ideas, scenes, dialogue, plot, and interaction between verbal and nonverbal elements.
• A rigorous and comprehensive treatment of the many aspects of Chekhov's artistic universe.
• All the major works explored.

Foreword by Donald Rayfield, Emeritus Professor of Russian, Queen Mary College, University of London; author, Chekhov: A Life; Chekhov, the Evolution of his Art; Understanding Chekhov. One century after the death of Anton Chekhov (1860–1904), his plays are celebrated throughout the world as a major milestone in the history of theatre and drama. Outside the Russian-speaking community, he is undoubtedly the most widely translated, studied and performed of all Russian writers. His plays are characterised by their evasiveness: tragedy and comedy, realism and naturalism, symbolism and impressionism, as well as other labels of school and genre – all fail to account for the uniqueness of 'Chekhovism', i.e., the essence of his artistic system and world view. Presence through Absence is a bold attempt to map the unique structure and meaning that comprise Chekhov's immensely rich artistic universe. Golomb's text is an incursion into Chekhov's vision of unrealised potentials and present absences. His timeless works are shown with rare insight and clarity to have artistic principles and coherence above and beyond the scope of the individual play.

This text attempts to map the unique structure and meaning that comprise Chekhov's immensely rich artistic universe. The prime components of his theatrical technique and fictional world are explored to uncover the basic principles governing the Chekhov's universe.