Genre Studies Unit-III- Alienation

 

ALIENATION

·         Alienation effect, also called a-effect (or) distancing effect or estrangement effect, German Verfermdungseffekt (or) V-effect, idea central to the dramatic theory of the German dramatist-director Bertolt Brecht.

·         Brecht adapted the Russian formalist concept of “defamiliarization” which is also called “alienation effect”.

·         It involves the use of techniques designed to distance the audience from emotion involvement in the play through jolting reminders of the artificiality of the theatrical performance.

·         “Alienation effect” means that the familiar contents are presented in an unfamiliar way to get a new effect so that the audience does not empathize with the story of a drama, and can think profoundly about the drama. From the drama to the cinema, the theory of “alienation effect” is also suitable for interpreting the text.

·         Brecht first used the term in an essay on “Alienation Effects in Chinese Acting” published in 1936.