Abstract

This article analyses how language choice, linguistic access and opacity in multilingual productions influence theatre institutions’ (inter)cultural and socio-political engagement as well as audiences’ access to and encounters with linguistic and cultural diversity. It uses multilingualism, and the associated use of unfamiliar languages, as a prism for revealing how language use is deeply embedded in historical contexts as well as linked to ethical considerations and the cultural politics in linguistically diverse metropolitan societies. The analysis of recent, pre-COVID productions in Berlin shows how institutions approach the emergent technical and economic strategies and their socio-political implications when staging multilingual theatre, how the choice of performing and supertitling language(s) interrelates with existing language hierarchies and associated privileges of access and how complex dramaturgical approaches to potentially unfamiliar languages can raise broader questions about the ethics of intercultural encounter. Selected case studies illustrate how theatres that embrace the use of unfamiliar languages negotiate the ethical objective of facilitating access and smooth communication in (inter)cultural encounter versus appreciating and embracing linguistic and the associated cultural diversity.

摘要

本文分析了多语言制作中的语言选择、​​语言访问和不透明性如何影响剧院机构的（跨）文化和社会政治参与，以及观众对语言和文化多样性的访问和遭遇。它使用多种语言，以及对陌生语言的相关使用，作为揭示语言使用如何深深植根于历史背景以及与语言多样化的大都市社会中的伦理考虑和文化政治相关联的棱镜。对柏林最近在 COVID 之前的作品的分析表明，在上演多语种戏剧时，机构如何处理新兴的技术和经济战略及其社会政治影响，表演和字幕语言的选择如何与现有的语言等级和相关的访问特权相互关联，以及对可能不熟悉的语言的复杂戏剧方法如何引发关于跨文化相遇伦理的更广泛问题。选定的案例研究说明了拥抱使用不熟悉语言的剧院如何协商在（跨）文化相遇中促进访问和顺畅交流的道德目标，而不是欣赏和拥抱语言和相关的文化多样性。