When contemplating the development of the Western drama theory from Aristotle to modern authors, one could defi ne it most concisely as “From Metaphysics to Technique”. That development reached its apex in the 19th century in Freytag’s Die Technik des Dramas and in Polti’s famous Les Trente-Six Situations Dramatiques. It was the letter treatise that became for Július Gajdoš the point of departure in tracing further (modern, post-modern) development and possible outcomes entrained in the question: “Does it still make sense to cultivate theory of drama?” When following the two lines in theory of drama, in which one may be called the scientifi c (or the noetic) one and the second may be described as the anthropological (or ontological) one, ‘situation’ and attitudes of the various theories to it are for him the key concepts. It is, after all, primarily situation that links drama in theatre to drama in the world and in life, as much as it links theory of drama and theory of theatre, linking even drama and theatre, that is not and does not wish to be a mere illustration of written text. As the author himself wrote in the closing part of his study, “This is why from the perspective of one, and to my mind a key one, term of dramatic situation I adverted to some fi ndings and mistakes in theory of drama that have been reached during the last two centuries, and also to contemporary points of departure of the Czech theory, as well as to that line of thinking in it, which is – unlike that of structuralists – relatively unknown abroad, even though it could become an important impulse for European theoretical thinking about drama and theatre”, mainly due to the comprehensiveness the point of view employed.

Professor PhDr. Július Gajdoš, PhD (*1951), studied at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Komenský University in Bratislava during 1970–1975 the subject area of therapeutic pedagogy and later, during 1980–1985, at the Theatre Faculty of AMU (Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague, he specialised in the fi eld of theatre and broadcasting dramaturgy. He obtained his European Diploma in Cultural Management in 1994. He fi nished his doctoral studies at the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University in Brno in 1996, where the doctoral degree was conferred on him. He was designated as Professor after professorial proceedings at AMU in Prague in 2005. He used to lead a number of theatre groups that have gained recognition even abroad, worked as a broadcasting dramaturge in Bratislava until 1993, wrote a number of theatre and broadcasting plays (e.g. Z patológie lidské vitality, published in the Disk No. 2 – December 2002, English version, From the Pathology of Human Vitality, is included in the Disk II / 2005; Ľahkíjako prach and Rodinný priateľ, published also in the Disk magazine, Nos. 6 and 18). His theoretical studies have been and are published, among others, in professional journals and anthologies Otázky divadlaa filmu (published by Philosophic Faculty of Masaryk University Brno) and Disk (by AMU Prague), to which body of editors he belongs since its foundation and in which one may fi nd his articles and studies in nearly any issue. His Postmoderné podobydivadla 2001 have been published in book form by publishing house Větrné mlýny in Brno. His study Compressibility of DramaticText has been published in English abroad. He has lectured at 23 universities and learning institution in Europe and on the American continent. Jointly with Professor Jaroslav Vostrý, he is currently laying the groundwork for studies of Scenic and Medial Creative Work – Scenology at the Institute of Art and Design at the University of West Bohemia (Západočeská univerzita) in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

The book is prepared by the Research Institute of Dramatic and Scenic Arts at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague for the Centre of Fundamental Research of AMU and MU (Masaryk University) in Brno.
Published in Czech Republic by Nakladatelství KANT – Karel Kerlický for Akademie múzických umění v Praze; ISBN 978-80-86970-32-5. Orders by mail: Nakladatelství KANT – Karel Kerlický, Kladenská 29, 160 00 Praha 6, Czech Republic, e-mail: kant@kant-books.com. Printed in Czech Republic.