Brecht and Social Reality

A detailed Summary of Brecht and Social Reality

"What happens all the time is not natural" (Brecht). Discuss

To understand Brecht's quote, we first need to understand Brecht's work.

"Social reality is determined, 'fated' by a multiplicity of forces, beyond the power of realism or naturalism's narrow frame to represent. A new form was required, one able to depict forces of a larger scale, and this was to be what Brecht termed Epic theatre."

Colin Counsell - Signs of Performance p81 Routledge 1996

What Brecht was referring to in his quote came from one of his pieces titled The Exception and the Rule, written in 1930. But what does he mean by natural? Collins English Dictionary describes it as:

"1. Of, according to, occurring in, provided by, nature. 2. Inborn.

Collins Concise English Dictionary p332 Collins 1984

Did Brecht mean that we do not live in a natural world, where we are 'normal' and unaffected? If this is what he means then the consensus would probably agree with him. There is probably no one in the world that lives a natural life, because of various reasons.

The first of many is the social surroundings that someone could find themselves encompassed in. Whether it is in the city or country, or wherever, there

"When an individual plays a part he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them. They are asked to believe that the character they see actually possesses the attributes they appear to possess....and that, in general, matters are what they appear to be.

Nietzshe does not even recognise the 'natural' world that Brecht discusses:

However, could the world, as it is now be our natural habitat? This ever changing place populated by people who seek to change it by the second. Since I started this essay, around a thousand square miles of rainforest have been cut down to help us progress our technology and living space. Humans as a species cannot just sit down and relax, like most other life forms on this planet. We constantly need to be doing something, and it is possibly this attitude that creates our world as we know it. The natural world is not the world we associate with nature, and greenery and having to hunt for your own food, but the natural habitat which we humans inhabit, a world full of creature comforts, televisions and word processors which make writing essays so much easier.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Everyday Life, Eagleton Ideology, English Dictionary, Nietzshe Brecht's, Brecht's Social, Hegemony Gramsci, Signs Performance, natural world, Brecht Discuss, Exception Rule, Antonio Gramsci's, ruling classes, happens natural, live natural, natural world exist, natural life, world natural, destroyed natural, natural habitat, social conditioning, brecht's natural world, ideas natural,

Approximate Word count = 1142
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous

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