Sexuality in Slovenian Drama at the Beginning of the 21st Century The Case of Two Plays by Dušan Jovanović and Draga Potočnja

• Published in: Ars & humanitas Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 39 - 54
• Main Author: Ocepek, Pavel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 17.10.2024
• DOI: 10.4312/ars.18.1.39-54
• ISSN: 1854-9632

In this paper, we discuss sexuality in the plays The Exhibitionist (2001) by Dušan Jovanović and For Our Young Ladies (2006) by Draga Potočnjak through literary interpretation, essentialist, sociological and literary analysis. In doing so, we draw on the so-called Critical Sexualities Studies and take into account the identifying elements of restrictive and permissive sexual culture, which we place in the context of the social changes in the organisation of sexuality characteristic of societies in late modernity. We note that in the two plays, prominent and influential in the Slovenian literary and theatrical space in the first years of the new millennium, both authors thematise sexuality, more specifically paraphilias and paraphilic disorders (exhibitionism and incest), as well as sexual liberation and sexual pleasure, to formulate ideas, themes and motifs that explore the antagonism between sexual cosmopolitanism (secularisation, detraditionalisation and individualisation) and sexual fundamentalism (Christian morality, tradition, patriarchy).The analysis shows that in articulating sexuality and its images, Dušan Jovanović and Draga Potočnjak have created engaged and socially conscious plays, where sexuality becomes a powerful tool, a tool that in late modernity can drive an individual to the edge, keep him on the edge, or even push him over the edge.  V prispevku z literarno interpretacijo ter esencialistično, sociološko in literarnovedno analizo obravnavam seksualnost v dramskih besedilih Ekshibicionist (2001) Dušana Jovanovića in Za naše mlade dame (2006) Drage Potočnjak. Pri tem izhajam iz tako imenovanih kritičnih študijev seksualnosti ter upoštevam identifikacijske elemente restriktivne in permisivne seksualne kulture, ki jih postavljam v okvir družbenih sprememb pri organiziranosti seksualnosti, značilnih za družbe pozne modernosti. Ugotavljam, da v obeh izbranih dramah, ki sta zaznamovali slovenski literarnovedni in gledališki prostor v prvih letih novega tisočletja, avtor in avtorica z literarizacijo seksualnosti, natančneje z literarizacijo parafilij in parafilnih motenj (ekshibicionizma in incesta), tudi seksualnega osvobajanja in seksualnega užitka, ubesedujeta ideje, teme in motive, ki se zgoščajo okoli antagonizma med seksualnim svetovljanstvom (sekularizacija, detradicionalizacija in individualizacija) ter seksualnim fundamentalizmom (krščanska morala, tradicija, patriarhat). Analiza dokazuje, da sta Dušan Jovanović in Draga Potočnjak z ubesedovanjem seksualnosti in njenih podob ustvarila angažirani in socialno ozaveščeni dramski besedili, pri čemer dobi seksualnost moč orodja, ki posameznika v pozni moderni pahne na rob, ga na robu drži ali pa celo pahne čezenj.