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# Verbal communication and Action

In Drama in der Vermittlung von Handlung, Sprache und Szene5.12 A. Hübler gives the follow definition of action. Action is:

> The transition from one situation to another in the sense of a development, a transition which, depending on the kind of situation involved, is selected deliberately from a number of different possibilities rather than simply causally determined.

So if we look at the connection between speech and action, we can say that speech can be the catalyst of action. For deliberate changes in the dramatic situation often take place through the utterances of one of the characters. These words can have different forms i.e. orders that are given, the betraying of a secret, the uttering of a threat, the making of a promise or an act of persuasion. Another observation we can make is that a change in the dramatic situation changes the inter-relationship of the characters.

Spoken action or actional speech is very common in dramatic texts, though the `distance' between speech and action is likely to be variable.

Commentative speech is distanced from action because it does not change the dramatic situation. It is a form of reference, a contrast between speech and action. In my opinion, music has largely the same function as commentative speech with the difference that music lacks the direct referentiality of speech.

In many cases, commentative speech takes place within an epic communication structure. In such a structure, the `distance' between the speaker and action is at its greatest.

When speech and action are identical, the character remains completely immersed in the situation which he hopes or tries to change by speaking. When speech is contrasted with action, though by definition it is not identical to it, it nonetheless still refers directly to the action. The `distance' between speech and action can be further increased by abandoning such directives to actions which are features of commentative speech. At this point speech and action then run parallel to each other (Speech for the sake of speech). An example of this is The Worst Pies in London, which will be discussed in the next chapter.

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