FAMILY AS A SYSTEM IN CRISIS IN CHRISTOPH RANSMAYR’S ODYSSEUS, VERBRECHER. SCHAUSPIEL EINER HEIMKEHR AND MARINA CARR’S PHAEDRA BACKWARDS

Abstract

As a part of the UIP-2020-02-3695 Analysis of Systems in Crisis and of New Consciousness in 21st Century Literature installation research project,
which is being carried out at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and is financed by the Croatian Science Foundation (https://askins21.ffos.hr/english/),1 this paper focuses on two contemporary plays of Western European literature: Odysseus, Verbrecher. Schauspiel einer Heimkehr (2010), written by the Austrian author Christoph Ransmayr, and Phaedra Backwards (2011), by the Irish playwright Marina Carr. In both plays, the authors use the original myths of Odysseus and Phaedra, reimagining them in a contemporary context in order to show the universality of their experiences, but above all to comment on the society and especially the family as a system marked by crises and conflicts instead of heroic deeds. In this light, the analysis focuses on the text and context within which the state of society and the family are explored. The research is primarily based on the sociological reflections on the system, crisis, and family, drawing on the theoretical approach of the German sociological theorist Niklas Luhmann and focusing on society and social systems. In the selected plays, the family as a specific type of system is examined as well as its dynamics in relation to social changes. In addition to the examination of thematic, compositional, and genre features of the plays, the comparative analysis will reveal their differences and similarities regarding several aspects: the self-concept in context of the family as well as the causes, manifestations, and consequences of the crisis. In other words, its effect on the characters and their transformations will be explored.