Krytyka teatralna - pomiędzy mainstreamem a demokratycznym Hyde Parkiem
Theatrical criticism - between mainstream and democratic Hyde Park

Summary/Abstract: In the age of the Internet, theatrical portals and theatrical blogs, professional critics writing about theatre are not the only circles shaping public opinion. Traditional criticism is enclosed in a hermetic world, into which the common spectator rarely peeks.In the field of theatre criticism, one can talk about the process of ‘de-distanciation’ (a term coined by K. Mannheim), the decreasing distance of the legally valid culture and the one that is not institutionally legitimized. On web portals, qualified critics (theatre theorists, theatre makers) conduct discussions with theatre goers, bloggers provide information on what is worth seeing in Polish theaters and express synthetic opinions that are relevant to people interested in theatre repertoire. This phenomenon can be called a diversification of criticism, although I prefer to talk about the process of the democratization of theatrical discourse. Blogs in a sociological sense are a manifestation of individuals' grassroots activity. The advantage of this communication platform is independence (freedom from ‘content guards’, that is, ‘gatekeepers’), non-hierarchical structure, the possibility to publish content quickly, the practical realization of participatory culture. Blogs fulfill informational, documentary, unmasking, popularization and integration functions. They promote institutions, events, publications, symbolic content; they embark a critical reflection, animate interest in culture, build communities of people who initiate dialogue, focused around the blog. The distinctive feature of this on-line journal is the interactivity and the possibility of post graphics and multimedia content.

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