| المستخلص: |
Modern drama reached at a crisis caused by the failure of the inherited traditional modes of writing to account for the rapidly changing demands of modern life and the highly complex as well as ambivalent experience of the modern dramatist. An urgent need was felt, therefore to revolutionize the technique of modern theater and experiment with new unconventional ways of writing to cope with this new development. Theatre of the Absurd came in time to meet this demand for a new dramatic mode to convey the peculiarly modernist experience. The world no longer seemed to make sense and Absurd drama adapts a form that is equally illogical and chaotic to embody that meaning. Modern Arabic dramatist saw in the theatre of the absurd the best trend that can embody their vision of life and responses to it. They soon therefore assimilated this western influence by trying to lavish on it an Arabic flavour. The present dissertation is an attempt to investigate the employment of the absurd in modern Arabic text to illustrate the Arabic version of this international trend of modern theatre. The focus is going to be placed on the written text and its intrinsic aesthetic, artistic, and thematic components and the way they contribute to the overall structure of the Absurd text. This is one of the aspects distinguishing this study from previous ones, which generally focused on performance rather than the written text. To achieve its aims, the study is divided into four chapters preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion. The introduction is a general view on the Theatre of the Absurd in terms of its terminology, definition, and significance. It also traces the cultural and social roots of this trend, the factors that led to its emergence as well as the major figures of western Absurd drama. Chapter one is devoted to the rise and development of the Absurd in Arabic drama in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria; while chapter two is a survey of the major pioneers of this trend in Arabic drama. The third chapter is devoted to explore the major issues, visions, and attitudes commonly shared by the host of Arabic Absurd dramatist. As for the last chapter, it is concerned with a practical analysis of the formal artistic elements characteristic of this field as exemplified in selected Arabic plays. A critique of the most outstanding intrinsic aesthetic and thematic aspects of the chosen Arabic texts is the sole supreme goal of this last chapter. Finally, the conclusion sums up the major findings of the study.
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