Rezensionen Kasia Lech. Multilingual Dramaturgies: Towards New European Theatre. New Dramaturgies. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2024, 273 pages. Multilingualism is a shared reality in European societies and its multiple manifestations can propel theatres to explore new ways of experimenting and reflecting on differences. In Multilingual Dramaturgies: Towards New European Theatre, Kasia Lech examines how linguistic diversity negotiates spaces of in-betweenness in contemporary theatre. With a persuasive undertone, the author advocates for an artistic and political shift away from the binary us/ them mindset and takes a clear stance on recognizing otherness as a fundamental component of Europe ’ s cultural and social landscape. This recognition is visible not only in the book ’ s substance but also in its style. Some of the peritextual elements such as a few titles are written both in the author ’ s native language Polish and English. The same applies to quotes and proper nouns that are preserved in their source language and translated into English, inviting and challenging the reader to engage with variations and interruptions. Elaborating on interculturality research in theatre, Lech builds on Marvin Carlson ’ s Speaking in Tongues, Yana Meerzon ’ s concept of self as other while also drawing indirectly on Erika Fischer-Lichte ’ s utopian promise of interweaving performance cultures to refine the concept of difference characterised by multiplicity and contrasts. Structured systematically into two main sections — one theoretical and one empirical — the book is divided into seven chapters. These explore how European theatre can serve as a space to work with difference through “ multilingual dramaturgies — in process and performance — as webbed practices of endless movements between differences, traces of differences, and gaps that emerge from them ” (12). The third chapter, Multilingual Web: On Europe, Its Languages, and Performances of Difference, grounds the theoretical framework on multilingualism in the socio-political and cultural European context. The discussion builds progressively and culminates in the concept of multilingual dramaturgies as a collaborative approach that fosters a “ new political imagination ” (64). Lech consistently demonstrates how languages shape realities and how their interactions lead to a complex myriad of differences that carry the disposition of not-knowing and the gaps in understanding. She draws on Derrida ’ s différance concept to point out the continuous displacements and gaps between sign and meaning, both within a single language and across multiple languages, proposing a schematic illustration of vertical, horizontal, and webbed différances. To link the phenomenon of multilingualism as a tangled web of inconsistencies and gaps to a broader ethical and philosophical reflection for engaging with otherness, Lech builds on Julia Kristeva ’ s Strangers to Ourselves and its ethics of otherness and Cezary Wodzi ń ski ’ s term go ś c ´inno ś c ´. The latter plays on the Polish words go ś c ´ (meaning ‘ guest ’ as a noun or ‘ host ’ as a verb) and inno ś c ´ (otherness). The concept refers to the understanding of human subjectivity as an interchange “‘ w ruchu mi ę dzy Kto ś a Nikt, mi ę dzy Nikt a Kto ś’ (in movement between Someone and No one, between No one and Someone) and through gaps that arise from these movements ” (45), reinforcing the idea that otherness is not only an external encounter but an internalized, continuous movement. For this reason, “ multilingual go ś c´-inno ś c´ focuses on interstices and larger gaps and sees mutual differences as the one thing people share ” (46). Even though the ethical discussion on otherness remains superficial, key theories are cogently interweaved to support the position that the multilingual dramaturgies of go ś c ´-inno ś c ´ can be applied in theatre as a means of understanding and reflection on difference. The second part of the book consists of 13 qualitative interviews, which represent the research ’ s central method. The interviews give a good overview of the multilingual complexity of the theatre landscape in Europe and lend a sense Forum Modernes Theater, 36/ 1-2, 155 - 156. Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen DOI 10.24053/ FMTh-36-0012 of authenticity, in which they show how multilingual dramaturgies are informed by real-life experience. Organised in four thematic chapters, these conversations exemplify different approaches to multilingual dramaturgies and highlight their potential to “ engage with difference ” (120). All semi-structured interviews follow a similar template, discussing the interviewees ’ perspectives on linguistic diversity in a specific performance shown across Europe. While the author frames each interview with a brief analysis and a thematic focus — gaps and displacement in languages, adaptations in multiple languages, linguistic diversity in local communities and ways in which multilingual theatre can shape Europe — applying a pluralistic methodological approach could have provided an even more comprehensive picture. The dialogues feature performance artists, theatre and dance companies from various geographical and aesthetic backgrounds, including: Needcompany, Adam Ziajski, Odin Teatret, Caroline Guiela Nguyen, Sir David Pountney, Radosł aw Rychcik, Paula Rodríguez, Nina Thunnissen, Kristina Werner, Niclas Turesson, Vanja Hamidi Isacson, Rimini Protokoll, Caridad Svich, Sign- Dance Collective International and Anne Bérélowitch. The result is a compelling polyphony that creates the impression of a co-authored book, in which the artists reflect on the collaborative practices and collective efforts within and outside their performative realm when working with multiple languages. Throughout the exchanges, the concept of multilingual dramaturgies proposed by Lech stands out as revealing, emancipatory, and uplifting. For instance, in his performance featuring Deaf people, Nie mów Nikomu (Don ’ t Tell Anyone), the Polish theatre director Adam Ziajski disrupts linguistic hierarchies. He exposes the power dynamics embedded in language between the performers and the audience, contributing to the destigmatisation of Deaf people and raising awareness of Polish Sign Language as a legitimate and equal language. David Pountney ’ s opera The Passenger, which counters ethnocentric perspectives on World War II, emphasises “ unity based on mutual differences ” (144) by employing different languages in key moments. Another insightful example of how multilingual dramaturgies can bring about change is the conversation with the theatre director and founder of the European Lab for Multilingual Theatre, Anne Bérélowitch, who trains new generations of theatre practitioners to work in multilingual contexts. Multilingual Dramaturgies: Towards New European Theatre not only succeeds in corroborating the transformative potential of linguistic diversity in theatre by working consciously with difference, but it also provides a set of tools including a list of guiding questions in the closing chapter to help rethink and navigate instances of not-knowing, failings, and gaps inherent to multilingualism. Lech ’ s well-structured, tightly reasoned, and forward-looking inquiry brings to the fore the ongoing negotiation of identity through language and encounter. By dismantling social and linguistic hierarchies and reinforcing collaboration, multilingual dramaturgies can serve as a gateway to an imaginative practice of “ a Europe that ends well ” (6). Luxembourg C ORINA O STAFI Teresa Kovacs. Theater der Leere. Heiner Müller, Elfriede Jelinek, Christoph Schlingensief, René Pollesch. Berlin: Theater der Zeit 2024, 226 Seiten. Sich aus der Verlegenheit herauszuschreiben, in die der Begriff des Postdramatischen die Theaterwissenschaft gestürzt hat, könnte gut und gerne als ein Desiderat der Disziplin bezeichnet werden. Einen solchen Versuch unternimmt auch Teresa Kovacs in ihrer Untersuchung von Theatertexten und Arbeiten im und für das Theater von Heiner Müller, Elfriede Jelinek, Christoph Schlingensief und René Pollesch. Dabei macht Kovacs gleich zu Beginn deutlich, dass sie das postdramatische Theater verabschieden möchte, indem sie ihm eine Zukunft gibt, die sich aus der Sorge um die Zerstörung des Planeten und seinem Verhältnis zu den Wissenschaften ergibt. Diese andere Zukunft schlummert für sie erstens in einem Rückgang auf Brechts Idee eines Theaters für ein wissenschaftliches Zeitalter, das für eine Unter- Forum Modernes Theater, 36/ 1-2, 156 - 159. Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen DOI 10.24053/ FMTh-36-0013 156 Rezensionen