Dramaturgies of Theatrical Imagination Spectatorial Agency in Lessing and Kleist

The study examines an aspect of German theatre history that is relevant also in the context of the current engagement with theatrical phenomenology and reception. The historical, discursive, and political situating of canonical dramas shows that "dramatic theater" itself is to be regarded as part of cultural and theatrical practice. The dramas of Lessing and Kleist operate with a broad spectrum of theatrical techniques (such as teichoscopy, ekphrasis, masquerade and mise en abyme) that seek to promote, shape and direct the imaginative participation of their implied audiences. In addition to presenting imagination on the plot level, the dramas reflect their own medial status by staging the consequences and the reformation of "false" imaginative investments.