In this fascinating volume, acclaimed theatre historian Erika Fischer-Lichte reflects on the role and meaning accorded to the theme of sacrifice in Western cultures as mirrored in particular fusions of theatre and ritual. Theatre, Sacrifice, Ritual presents a radical re-definition of ritual theatre through analysis of performances as diverse as: Max Reinhardt's new people's theatre the mass spectacles of post-revolutionary Russia American Zionist pageants the Olympic Games. In offering both a performative and a semiotic analysis of such performances, Fischer-Lichte expertly demonstrates how theatre and ritual are fused in order to tackle the problem of community-building in societies characterised by loss of solidarity and disintegration, and exposes the provocative connection between the utopian visions of community they suggest, and the notion of sacrifice. This innovative study of twentieth-century performative culture boldly examines the complexities of political theatre, propaganda and manipulation of the masses, and offers a revolutionary approach to the study of theatre and performance history.

在这本引人入胜的书中，著名的戏剧史学家Erika Fischer-Lichte反思了西方文化中赋予牺牲主题的作用和意义，这反映在戏剧和仪式的特殊融合中。戏剧、牺牲、仪式》通过对以下不同表演的分析，对仪式戏剧进行了彻底的重新定义。马克斯-莱因哈特的新人民剧院、革命后的俄罗斯的群众表演、美国的犹太复国主义庆典、奥林匹克运动会。通过对这些表演进行表演学和符号学分析，费舍尔-利希特专业地展示了戏剧和仪式是如何融合在一起的，以解决以丧失团结和解体为特征的社会中的社区建设问题，并揭露了它们所提出的社区的乌托邦愿景与牺牲概念之间的挑衅性联系。这部关于二十世纪表演文化的创新研究，大胆地研究了政治戏剧、宣传和操纵群众的复杂性，并为戏剧和表演史的研究提供了一种革命性的方法。