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psychodrama

psychodrama

1 8.3
A play or film that shows characters' inner emotional struggles
  • noun
  • /ˌsaɪkoʊˈdrɑːmə/
  • Literature
translation icon : psicodrama
  • This film is a psychodrama that skillfully explores the characters' psychological battles through intense dialogue.
  • a national psychodrama

Examples

  • The film is a kind of psychodrama in which the two characters discuss their life together, their fantasies, their conception of love, their sexual drives, and their way of dealing with internalized repressive codes that are still effective despite all the liberation from religion and old moral rules.

    Academic text (1998)
  • In fact, the three Avignon texts, unlike The Nuns, are united by their incorporation of psychodrama within the play and by their extensive use of cinematographic references.

    Academic text (1994)
  • But would he stop that exhausting psychodrama, melodrama?

  • I wanted to shout out to the George Clooney movie Solaris, which is a psychodrama set, and the space station orbiting Solaris.

  • Personal histories, imaginary psychodramas, and the lives of his fictive characters all spring from the word and its magical opening.

    Academic text (1996)
  • These transferences are varyingly threatening or pleasurable, and each will be varyingly frustrated or gratified as the evening's psychodrama unfolds.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Fuller directed some of the standout American films of the past five decades, from the lurid psychodrama of Shock Corridor to the rough-and-ready war stories in The Big Red One, and even his detractors would probably concede there were few directors as passionate as Fuller when he got going.

    Blog text (1)
  • The play was a gripping psychodrama that delved into the character's emotional struggles and conflicts.

  • During the therapy session, the participants engaged in a psychodrama to act out their personal conflicts.

How Psychological

psychodrama
  • Literature
1 8.3
drama
239 1.8

Surface Forms

psychodrama singular
psychodramas plural

Morphology

psychodrama = drama (semi-transparent) = psycho + drama

The meaning is fairly clear from psycho- plus drama, but the word denotes a specialized kind of dramatic work focused on psychological conflict.

Etymology

Psychodrama comes from the Greek parts psycho- meaning 'mind' or 'soul' and -drama meaning 'play' or 'action'. So a psychodrama is a play or film that puts inner feelings and conflicts on stage to show the characters' psychological struggles.