Samuel Beckett’in son oyunlarındaki metadrama, teatrallik ve performatiflik


Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2013

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: Hatice Eşberk

Eş Danışman: NURSEL İÇÖZ, MARGARET JEANNE M. SÖNMEZ

Özet:

In this study six of Samuel Beckett’s plays are analysed by concentrating on features that are considered within postmodern aesthetics. In doing so, the study is separated into three parts, being metadrama, theatricality and performativity. For each part two Beckettian plays are analysed. In the first section, Catastrophe and Krapp’s Last Tape are investigated in terms of their use of the metadramatic devices outlined by Richard Hornby. In the second part, the theatricality in Ohio Impromptu and Not I is studied through Beckett’s innovative strategies of staging. Lastly, in the third section the elements that make Beckett’s Footfalls and Rockaby among the best representations of performative plays in general and of gender performativity in particular are analysed. Within the metadramatic analyses, the subversive quality of drama is put forward. The critical understanding of drama about drama and the versatile nature of drama are indicated. It is found that the metadramatic quality of Catastrophe and Krapp’s Last Tape not only create multiple dimensions within the plays but also reflect the multiplicity of a human being as a subject. In Ohio Impromptu and Not I, there is a questioning of the qualities of a play that make it a theatrical piece. Also the plays are good examples of Beckett’s use of stage against itself. Both Footfalls and Rockaby portray a challenge to authoritative masculine power through their criticism of politics of gender. As a result, in Beckettian theatre the elements of postmodern theatre are observed.