HOW DID A CHARACTER BECOME A MASK

Text topic: Mask and Masking

Text author: Марина Миливојевић Мађарев

On the example of four modern Serbian dramas created after 2000: Šine by Milena Marković (The Tracks), Skakavci by Biljana Srbljanović (Locusts), Pomorandžina kora by Maja Pelević (Orange Peel) and Moja ti by Olga Dimitrijević (Dear you), the paper analyses different approaches to the character as a mask and the appearance of a narrator in a dramatic form, as a mask for the playwright. The author finds theoretical foundation in the works of Jean-Pierre Sarrazac, Anne Ubersfeld and Erika Fischer-Lichte who discuss the importance of the idea of mask in modern dramaturgy. In her play Šine (The Tracks) Milena Marković examines the position of women in a modern version of the patriarchal matrix: every female character in her drama, no matter what age, education or nationality shares the same name – Rupica (Dimple). Biljana Srbljanović in her drama Skakavci (Locusts) disfigures the so-called social elite where patriarchal matrix and violence are carefully hidden behind a form of refined, urban city life. Maja Pelević in her drama Pomorandžina kora (Orange Peel) examines the influence of the media and the environment on the formation of a modern woman`s consciousness. Olga Dimitrijević in Moja ti (Dear you), through a story of love and friendship between members of older generations, seeks to revitalize their values. By not showing their characters as whole beings but rather as masks, the playwrights demystify the act of writing and relate freely towards the drama form. Characters that are masks, enable writers to examine different social phenomena which are hidden beneath media mystification, projecting desirable images of the society and ourselves.