THE PRESENT STUDY OFFERS the first detailed commentary in English on Bertolt Brecht's major theoretical writings on the theater. It is not intended as an introduction to the plays or as a basic guide to his main dramaturgical concepts (fortunately a number of general studies of Brecht's work already perform that task admirably). Rather, my aim is to provide in-depth critical analysis of Brecht's thinking on the subject, discussed both with reference to the intellectual context of the time and in the light of subsequent dramatic and aesthetic theory. This will be coupled with an exploration of his methods of argumentation and an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of his evolving theoretical position on the problems he confronts at different stages of his theoretical development.

Throughout his entire creative life, from “Zur Ästhetik des Dramas” (On the Aesthetics of Drama, 1920) to the essays on “Dialektik auf dem Theater” (Dialectics in the Theater, 1956), Brecht theorized prolifically: on theater as an institution, on contemporary drama, and, above all, on Epic Theater, “Verfremdung,” and his works' sociopolitical role. Although his theoretical statements on film, radio, poetry, and the novel also exerted considerable influence, the dramaturgical writings far outstrip these in quantity and significance. Indeed, the theoretical works of few modern playwrights can have shaped their plays' reception and our thinking about modern drama to a comparable degree.