In Between. Exilic Identity and Tragedy of History: Literary Characters and Performative Representation Strategies

In this paper, I focus on some aspects and strategies of literary and theatrical representation which are involved in the highlighting of cultural differences, especially “in-between” spaces and identities, and their consequences in the life of communities. I base my study on several literary works and performances that range in time from Greek Antiquity up to our days. They develop topics like exile, migration, war, women rights, the right of asylum, gender discrimination, religious and ethnic persecution. Among them I would especially mention Aeschylus' Suppliants staged by director Silviu Purcărete and Exile in the Land of Forgetfulness, dance-theatre performance realized by Andreea Tănăsescu, based on Benjamin Fondane’s life and writings. My main purpose here is to provide a minimum corpus and, more precisely, an annotated corpus of literary and theatrical works and productions on topics relevant to the experience of exile. This approach is not however exhaustive, it’s a work in progress. I am now going on to explore such an area within a research project.