Critical Theory: theatre and post-structuralism

Résumé du document

The idea of Post-structuralism derives from philosophy. It is a discipline which has always tended to emphasize the difficulty of achieving secure knowledge about things (Barry;1995:63) .Philosophical writing, although following the structure thesis, followed by anti-thesis, then a synthesis of both, always comes back to the initial question without achieving a single answer, or a single truth, and further widen the conflict. Elaine Aston (1997) has expressed, that owing to its experimental approach to the dramatic and theatrical form, Churchill's theatre is not just a question of politics, but that of politics of style. In ?Blue Heart', which presents two short plays, one featuring the relationship between a father and daughter and the other between mother and son, the form and content are constantly questioned through a reconstruction of the concepts of plot, language and structure. In ?Heart's Desire', where a couple awaits their daughter's return from Australia, the action is set back and altered. In ?Blue Kettle', a middle-aged man looks for his biological mother and as the action evolves, the words ?blue' and ?kettle' appear repeatedly in the dialogue. The questioning of the unity in text and structure is common to both pieces. This enables us to explore the contradictions that are exposed both in the language and structure of ?Blue Heart'.

Extraits

[...] Therefore, we may find that just like ‘blue' and ‘kettle' have replaced words, Derek has taken the identity of the women's real sons. However, central to poststructuralist thought is the idea that all truth is relative and therefore that ‘metaphors evoke relationships and the making of the relationships is very much the task of the hearer or reader' (Sarup; 1993: 47, 48). Although Mrs Oliver mentions the words ‘mother' ,‘adopted', ‘searching' and ‘biological'(1997 it is the reader's task to link them and work out their relationship to the story. [...]

[...] To counter this need, he invites us undo the need for balanced equations, to see if each term in an opposition is not, after all, an accomplice of the other' (Sarup ; 1993 : 40). As a result, the words ‘blue' and ‘kettle' however unrelated they are, are not contrasted in opposition but linked together to create an original phrase. Moreover, these words act as clues to the whole text. As Barry (1995:72) points out, The deconstructive process will often fix on a detail of the text which looks incidental-the presence of a particular metaphor, for instance-and then use it as the key to the whole text, so that everything is read through it. [...]

[...] Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp In Pizzato, M Edges of Loss: from Modern Drama to Post modern Theory. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, p.90. Dews, P Logics of Disintegration: Poststructuralist thought and the claims of critical theory. London: Verso, pp Easthope, A British Post-Structuralism. New York: Routledge, p Fortier, M.1997. Theory/Theatre: An Introduction. London: Routledge, pp Hare, D ‘Enter Stage Left' in the Guardian Review. 30/10/ 2004, p.6. Iser, W reading process: a phenomenological approach' in Lodge, David(Ed) Modern Criticism and Theory. [...]

[...] Pizzato, Mark Edges of loss: From Modern Drama to Postmodern Theory. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, p Sarup, M An Introductory Guide to Post-Structuralism and Postmodernism. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, pp Deconstruction derives from Dekonstruktion, a concept from the German philosopher Martin Heidegger in which all previous philosophical theories must be constantly re-examined. French philosopher Jacques Derrida developed the theory which demonstrates that meaning of language is constantly shifting, and questions the possibility of ever identifying or expressing truth'. (Bright 2004:23). [...]

[...] This is why we can explore the contradictions that are exposed both in the language and structure of Blue Heart. The title Blue Heart foreshadows the linguistic puns that are present throughout Heart's Desire and Blue Kettle in the sense that it is commonly accepted that the heart is not blue, but red. The text interrogates its own meaning through these words acting as a metaphor, which, according to David Hare, is ingredient which makes all plays' (2004: and as we look for meaning in language, the characters search for truth. [...]