Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International IDEA Conference, Ankara, Türkiye, 13 - 15 Mayıs 2026, (Yayınlanmadı)
The
Crisis of European Power/Knowledge in Zinnie Harris’s How To Hold Your
Breath
This
study examines Zinnie Harris’s How to Hold Your Breath (2015) through
the theoretical lens of Michel Foucault, arguing that the play problematises
power, government control, and the formation of human values in Europe. By
placing Europe at the centre of a major economic collapse, Harris questions the
continent’s position of superiority in the global economy and its sense of
stability. The play depicts a reversal of migration patterns, where Europeans
are forced to leave their countries to seek safety in Eastern regions with
better living conditions. The story follows two sisters, Dana and Jasmine, as
they travel toward Alexandria in search of employment, only to discover that
banks across Europe have collapsed and that political and economic systems are
falling apart. This reversal indicates how states and institutions control
people’s movement, security, and chances of survival. Drawing on Foucault’s theories,
the play shows how human life is managed by political and economic systems,
determining whose lives are protected and whose are deemed disposable, and also
how vulnerable the human body becomes once institutional protection disappears.
The play also presents a failing system of knowledge, as bureaucratic systems
lose their power and effectiveness. Finally, the play suggests that when
systems of power collapse, individuals are left to develop their own sense of
moral responsibility within the remains of a failed ideological system.
Therefore, this study argues that How to Hold Your Breath interrogates Europe’s
power dynamics, revealing how systems of governance shape bodies, identities,
and notions of human values.
Keywords:
How to Hold Your Breath, Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge, Zinnie Harris