This paper discusses Janko Kos's thesis that the history of Slovene drama doesnot include socialist realism. Through analysis of several plays written for the Worker's Stage in the 1930s, and the Partisan agitprop theatre of the 1940s it becomes evident that socialistic realism, with a hero who leads the society to a better future, is also present in Slovene dramatic literature. It is notable that these plays represented a basis for the social criticism that emerged in the mid-1950s with the plays by Igor Torkar, Primož Kozak, Dušan Jovanović and Rudi Šeligo. Those were based on realist-naturalist dramaturgy, but criticised the basic structure of socialistic agitprop theatre and its main dramatis personae.
|