Artaud and the Gnostic Drama

This study offers a reappraisal of the importance of Antonin Artaud (1896-1948) in contemporary critical debate, and examines the intricate parallels between his heretical dramaturgy and the heresies of ancient Gnosticism. It argues that the gnostic drama explored throughout Artaud's oeuvre presents an assault on the founding tenets of Western thought that is more thoroughgoing and powerful than that mounted by the post-structuralist critics who have adopted Artaud as an icon of failure and madness.