A New Poetics of Chekhov's Major Plays

One century after the death of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), his plays are celebrated throughout the world as a major milestone in the history of theater and drama. Outside the Russian-speaking community, he is undoubtedly the most widely translated, studied, and performed of all Russian writers. His plays are characterized by their evasiveness: tragedy and comedy, realism and naturalism, symbolism and impressionism, as well as other labels of school and genre, all of which fail to account for the uniqueness of his artistic system and worldview. Presence Through Absence is a bold attempt to map the unique structure and meaning that comprise Chekhov's immensely rich artistic universe. Harai Golomb explores all the prime components of Chekhov's theatrical technique: text construction, themes and ideas, scenes, dialogue, plot, and interaction between verbal and nonverbal elements. His timeless works are shown with rare insight and clarity to have artistic principles and coherence above and beyond the scope of the individual play.