The theater of transformation : postmodernism in American drama / Kerstin Schmidt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schmidt, Kerstin.

Series:

Postmodern studies ; 37.

Postmodern studies ; 37

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American drama--20th century--History and criticism.

American drama.

Postmodernism (Literature).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York : Rodopi, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Theater of Transformation: Postmodernism in American Drama offers a fresh and innovative reading of the contemporary experimental American theater scene and navigates through the contested and contentious relationship between postmodernism and contemporary drama. This book addresses gender and class as well as racial issues in the context of a theoretical discussion of dramatic texts, textuality, and performance. Transformation is contemporary drama's answer to the questions of postmodernism and a major technique in the development of a postmodern language for the stage. In order to demonstrate the multi-faceted nature of the postmodern theater of transformation, this study draws on a wide range of plays: from early experimental plays of the 1960's by Jean-Claude van Itallie through feminist plays by Megan Terry and Rochelle Owens to more recent drama by the African-American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. The Theater of Transformation: Postmodernism in American Drama is written for anyone interested in contemporary American drama and theater as well as in postmodernism and contemporary literary theory. It appeals even more broadly to a readership intrigued by the ubiquitous aspects of popular culture, by feminism and ethnicity, and by issues pertaining to the so-called 'society of spectacle' and the study of contemporary media.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction: The Postmodern Condition of Drama

Theorizing Dramatic Form: Aspects of Transformation in Postmodern Drama

The Postmodern Sense of Self

The Dramatic Text, Performance, and Postmodern Authorship

Theatrical Space and Mediatized Culture

Jean-Claude van Itallie: Mediatized Culture and the Postmodern Self

Transformative Selves in \'Interview\'

\'TV\': The Screen Takes Over

\'Motel\': Cyborgean Visions of American Motel Culture

Megan Terry and Rochelle Owens: Transformation and Postmodern Feminism

Megan Terry's Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place: Transforming the Prison House of the Self

Emma Instigated Me: Rochelle Owens's Play \'in the process of becoming\'

Suzan-Lori Parks: \'Rep and Rev\' Postmodernism

Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom: \'Histironical Amendments\' and the Third Space

The America Play: Playing America

Works Cited

Secondary Sources.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

94-012-0247-8

1-4175-9120-X

OCLC:

60158390