The Memorandum

E575238

The Memorandum is a satirical play by Czech writer and dissident Václav Havel that critiques bureaucracy and authoritarianism through the absurd introduction of an artificial office language.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf play
theatrical work
author Václav Havel NERFINISHED
character Jan Ballas NERFINISHED
Josef Gross NERFINISHED
Lear NERFINISHED
Maria NERFINISHED
Pillar
Savant
countryOfOrigin Czechoslovakia NERFINISHED
criticizes bureaucratic systems
meaningless administrative language
totalitarian practices
fictionalLanguage Ptydepe NERFINISHED
firstPerformanceYear 1965
genre absurdist drama
satire
hasAdaptation stage productions in multiple countries
hasEnglishTranslation The Memorandum NERFINISHED
hasPart eleven scenes
hasSubject conformity
office hierarchy
resistance to authority
influenced later political theatre
influencedBy Kafkaesque bureaucracy
mainTheme authoritarianism
bureaucracy
dehumanization
language and power
movement Theatre of the Absurd NERFINISHED
notableFeature satirical portrayal of office politics
use of invented technical jargon
originalLanguage Czech
originalTitle Vyrozumění
partOf Václav Havel's early plays
performanceLanguage Czech
English
French
German
plotElement introduction of an artificial office language
publicationYear 1965
relatedWork Audience
The Garden Party NERFINISHED
setting bureaucratic office
structure two acts
subjectOf literary criticism on absurdism
scholarly analysis of language and power
translatedBy Vera Blackwell NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Václav Havel notableWork The Memorandum