Teatrologia jako nauka o widowiskach
Theatrology as the Study of Spectacles

Preliminary Considerations

Summary/Abstract: The text elaborates on the postulate that theatrology turn into the study of spectacles. The author names three reasons for effecting such a change. The first is that the scope of theatre studies has already expanded to include not only theatre performances but some other kinds of spectacle as well. The second reason involves the strategy of academic research development. The strong position of performance studies – a discipline covering a larger group of spectacles – seems to be a threat for traditionally understood theatrology. One way of saving itself from this plight would be for theatrology to expand its area of research to encompass an even wider sphere of spectacle phenomena so that performance studies would function as its subdivision. The third reason, finally, has to do with etymology and the Greek concept of theatron, which, among other things, refers to spectacle. The argument involves an account of how theatrology and related studies have evolved and developed. The anthropological turn and new historicism are cited as examples of the expanding purview of theatre scholars. Then, the development of Polish performance studies is discussed. While discussing etymological issues, the 12th-century thinker Hugh of St Victor and his concept of “theatrics” is mentioned. The author of the article believes that as the Medieval “theatrics” was a practical knowledge of how to organise spectacles, today’s theatrology should become the theoretical study of phenomena that, apart from spectacles, would include performances and instances of simulation. It is, thus, the author’s belief that a broadly understood theatrology might become a discussion platform for researchers of various specialisations.

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