NON-REMINISCENCE AS AN AESTHETIC STRATEGY OF CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN THEATER: FROM PERIPHERY TO NEW PRESENCE

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to conceptualize aesthetic practices that function outside the system of cultural references by creating a theoretical framework of NON-reminiscence based on the synthesis of concepts of production of presence (H.U. Gumbrecht), aura and surplus of experience (W. Benjamin, S. Kracauer), and recursive structures of consciousness (D. Hofstadter) for the analysis of contemporary theatrical processes in Ukrainian and international contexts. Methodology is based on a phenomenological approach to the analysis of theatrical experience as presence; a comparative method for comparing NON-reminiscent practices from F. Kafka to contemporary theater; structural- semiotic analysis to identify recursive mechanisms. The key methodological principle is the analysis of theatrical phenomena starting from the effects of presence rather than meaning. Scientific novelty. For the first time, theatrical practices that have existed since the beginning of the 20th century but lacked adequate theoretical comprehension have been systematized and conceptualized. The concept of NON-reminiscence is introduced as an aesthetic strategy for creating theatrical experience without appeal to cultural memory. It demonstrates how the synthesis of concepts of presence, aura, and strange loop creates a productive analytical model for understanding contemporary theater. The specificity of NON-reminiscent strategies in the Ukrainian context as a response to traumatic experience and the impossibility of traditional representation is revealed. Conclusions. NON-reminiscence is a productive conceptual framework for analyzing a significant segment of theatrical practices of the 20th-21st centuries. From Kafka’s literary experiments to contemporary immersive performances, a common logic of rejecting cultural references in favor of pure presence can be traced. In Ukrainian theater, these strategies acquire special significance as a way of working with the traumatic experience of war. The concept opens new perspectives for theater criticism, education, and therapeutic practices.