Published: 2023-11-30

“The Emperor is Dead, Long Live the Emperor”: on Jelena Gremina’s Play "150 Reasons Not to Defend the Homeland" (2013)

Elena Kurant Logo ORCID

Abstract

Jelena Gremina’s verbatim drama 150 Reasons Not to Defend the Homeland (2013) deals with the political and existential experience of the present while ostensibly referring the historical events. The tragic history of the fifteenth century (the conquest of Constantinople by Ottomans and the end of the Byzantine Empire) is presented through the perspective of an individual who, in a moment of danger and under the threat of violence and enslavement, has to devise his own survival strategy, preserve their identity in the face of state-imposed values and choose either to make a deal with the conscience or die. The attitudes of the invaders (who praise violence), of the citizens threatened by loss of statehood, and of the witnesses of the oncoming tragedy reveal mechanisms of subjection, surrendering responsibility and conscience, and the devaluation of human life and moral principles.

Download files

Citation rules

Kurant, E. (2023). “The Emperor is Dead, Long Live the Emperor”: on Jelena Gremina’s Play "150 Reasons Not to Defend the Homeland" (2013). Rusycystyczne Studia Literaturoznawcze, 33, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.31261/RSL.2023.33.07

Cited by / Share

Vol. 33 (2023)
Published: 2023-12-15


ISSN: 0208-5038
eISSN: 2353-9674
Ikona DOI 10.31261/RSL

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

This website uses cookies for proper operation, in order to use the portal fully you must accept cookies.