Zur poetischen Anthropologie der Komödie in Brechts Messingkauf

Even that aspect of the comic that is to be found in everyday life presupposes an element of fictionaliza1ion and aestheticization. Comedy reproduces this in its actual form by constructing a self-reflexive plot structure which follows the play-within-a-play model. Brecht's epic
theatre borrows this plot-model: he writes structural comedies without an interest in laughter. Consequently, the V-Effects refer to the traditional processes of comedy. The replacement of narcissistic identification by wily criticism and cheerful curiosity likewise makes for a re-orientation (in comic terms) on the anthropological level. Epic and Aristotelian theatre stand in the same relationship to each other as the traditional opposition of comedy and tragedy. The question arises whether one can even read Brecht's Marxist plays as structural comedies.