La matrice tragica dell'atto artistico : Risonanza teatrale nei concetti di Denkraum e Pathosformel di Aby Warburg

With the intention of investigating the relationship between theatre and the theories of Hamburg scholar Aby Warburg, this essay focuses on Warburg’s late thinking (Einleitung zum Mnemosyne-Atlas 1929) and draws theatrical resonance from his theatre-relevant concept, Denkraum or “thought-space”. Warburg's interest for the theatrical arts is deeply connected to his commitment to understanding the creative act which, for him, has tragic foundations. For this reason, the aesthetics of Warburg belongs to the paradigm of the tragic, in which an important role is played also by the idea of katharsis. It is in this context that the concept of Pathosformel must also be understood: in addition to being a form of expressive gesture, the Pathosformel is a corresponding expression of Denkraum. The Bilderatlas Mnemosyne, which can be understood as a representation in figura of Denkraum, can therefore be said to be built according to a dramatic principle, as a deployment of spatial thinking. As such, we can find the Denkraum construct in the working processes of many contemporary theatre practitioners.