THEATRICAL SPACE AS A DISPLACEMENT OF PLACE (ORTSVERSCHIEBUNG): A PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF BERNHARD WALDENFELS

Abstract

The article provides a phenomenological analysis of theatrical space through Bernhard Waldenfels’ concept of displacement of place (Ortsverschiebung). The author traces the transformation of the understanding of space in the philosophical tradition: from the classical model of space as a “container” to the phenomenological interpretation of space as a dynamic structure constituted through bodily presence. Husserl’s distinction between the physical body (Körper) and the lived body (Leib) and Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the body as the zero point of spatial orientation provide the theoretical foundation. Waldenfels’ responsive phenomenology extends this line by shifting the focus from the constitutive power of the subject to the event-dimension of experience, where space emerges not as a product of bodily intentionality but in the event of address and response to the challenge of the Alien. Drawing on Waldenfels` triad of topos, atopos, and heterotopia, in dialogue with Michel Foucault`s notion of heterotopic spaces, the article shows that theatrical space is best understood not as a fixed “other place” but as a site where the tension between the topical and the atopical acquires a temporary spatial articulation without resolving the underlying disjunction. Theatrical space is defined as a heterotopic structure operating through a constant displacement of the threshold (Schwelle) between the Self and the Alien. Drawing on the example of Jerzy Grotowski’s poor theatre, the study demonstrates that the theatrical event emerges as a “third space” of bodily resonance, where the positions of the actor and the spectator are not fixed but constituted through mutual bodily response, understood through the actor`s sensus communis and the spectator`s bodily co-presence. The threshold is treated not as a boundary that separates but as the very place of response to the Other`s address, in which neither side achieves full understanding, only an ongoing openness. The author concludes that theater functions as an anti-model of digital all-proximity (Allnähe), legitimizing the inaccessibility of the Other and restoring the primary openness of the human being. The article outlines two directions for further research: how concrete spatial configurations of contemporary performative practice, from immersive performance to site-specific projects, realize the structure of displacement of place, and whether the experience of Ortsverschiebung retains its effectiveness in virtual environments, where bodily presence is replaced by technical mediation.