SOURCE: Barnett, David. “Dramaturgies of Sprachkritik: Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Blut Am Hals Der Katze and Peter Handke's Kaspar.” Modern Language Review 95, no. 4 (October 2000): 1053-63.

In the following essay, Barnett discusses how Kaspar has become a modern classic through its exploration of language and unique staging techniques.

Twentieth-century literature has been fascinated by language, more precisely, perhaps, by the disjunction of word and meaning. Few literary works, however, have attempted to approach these problems from the perspective of their linguistic foundations. The dramatic medium, with its possibilities of contrasting text with image, might suggest itself as particularly well suited for such an investigation. Peter Handke's Kaspar (première 11 May 1967, Theater am Turm, Frankfurt and Städtische Bühnen, Oberhausen) is probably the best-known example of a play about the mechanisms of language.¹ Ever since its first performance it has generated interest and stimulated much critical comment. This major play...