The Theater of Transformation: Postmodernism in American Drama (Postmodern Studies 37) (Postmodern Studies)

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 1960s 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. The Theater of 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 from early experimental plays of the 1960s 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 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. Editions Rodopi 904201895X 1 Contents 6 I Introduction: The Postmodern Condition of Drama 10 Postmodernism, an Assessment for the Theater 14 The Repoliticization of Postmodernism 23 Survey of Selected Secondary Studies 26 II Theorizing Dramatic Form: Aspects of Transformation in Postmodern Drama 32 II.1 The Postmodern Sense of Self 45 II.2 The Dramatic Text, Performance, and Postmodern Authorship 54 II.3 Theatrical Space and Mediatized Culture 74 III Jean-Claude van Itallie: Mediatized Culture and the Postmodern Self 88 III.1 Transformative Selves in "Interview" 100 III.2 "TV": The Screen Takes Over 111 III.3 "Motel": Cyborgean Visions of American Motel Culture 116 IV Megan Terry and Rochelle Owens: Transformation and Postmodern Feminism 130 IV.1 Megan Terry's Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place: Transforming the Prison House of the Self 139 IV.2 Emma Instigated Me: Rochelle Owens's Play "in the process of becoming" 153 V Suzan-Lori Parks: "Rep & Rev" Postmodernism 174 V.1 Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom: "Histironical Amendments" and the Third Space 182 V.2 The America Play: Playing America 199 VI Works Cited 214 VI.1 Primary Sources/Plays 214 VI.2 Secondary Sources 218 ISBN-13:,9789042018952 "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." "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."--Jacket Quite remarkably, drama and theater play ancillary roles at best in many of the classic commentaries on postmodernism, as, for instance, in Jean-Francois Lyotard's Postmodern Condition, David Harvey's Condition of Postmodernity, or Jean Baudrillard's Simulations.