ABSTRACT
Despitehiseffortsto"consistentlyavoididentification"(MUller1990: 191),HeinerMUllerisoftenunderstoodasa"Marxistplaywright,"his worksseeninacontinuumgoingbacktoBrechtasaresponsetoMarx. Suchanapproachemphasizestheideologicalaspectsofhisdramaandhis personalcommitmenttotheutopianprojectoftheGermanDemocratic Republic(GDR).ButMUller'sdramaturgydeveloped,fromthe1970son, intoapoeticmediumthatresiststheconventionsoflinearplotand characterdevelopmentinsuchawaythatacoherenttheme/ideologyisnot justelusivebutimpossible.Ininterviews,MUlleroftenclaimsthat ideologyissimplyusedasmaterialinhisplays,andthatheismore interestedinbeingcarriedalongwithlanguage.Thissuggeststhathis positionasdramatistisoutsideofideologyor-perhapsmostaccuratelyafterthetimeinwhichideologymatters.EvenifwearetoreadMUller's playsinthecontextoftheGDR,wemustnonethelessdosoafterthe collapseoftheBerlinWall,inthewakeofthedeathofitsutopianproject.
