Poetic Seeing in Wittgenstein and the Contemporary Avant-Garde Theatre

Abstract

This paper puts forth the hypothesis that Wittgenstein’s remark that “philosophy
ought really to be written only as a form of poetic composition” is potentially
actualized in the avant-garde theatre at the current moment of its turn to
philosophy through poetry. Positing an inextricable relation between philosophy
and theatre, the paper explores the notions of poetic seeing in a number of
Wittgensteinian remarks and in Botho Strauss’ play, Die Zeit
und das Zimmer. Based on the insights gained in this investigation, the
paper seeks to rethink mimesis in conjunction with poetic seeing. Finally, it
opens the way for a consideration of poetic seeing in relation to the “new logic
of vision” (Friedberg 2006: 242) structured by the digital.