“Making your home in another bird’s nest”: Conflict Zones and Conflicting Ideologies in David Greig’s Plays

Year 2020, Volume: 14 Issue: 1, 34 - 50, 25.06.2020

Sıla Şenlen Güvenç

Abstract

Many important events such as the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the Gulf War, 9/11, the global hunt for “tyrants” in the Middle-East and the increasing war on terrorism took place at the turn of the twentieth century, that has, in turn, changed our perception of the world. Alongside technological advancements and globalization, the world is now changing faster than ever before, unions are dissolving, borders are changing, boundaries are expanding and providing greater mobility and interaction as well as more opportunities to “trespass” into each other’s spaces by force, or out of mere necessity. Many of David Greig’s plays set in conflict zones, focus on significant or breaking points in history, in which characters with different cultural, religious, social backgrounds experience a “clash” of ideologies. In this respect, this paper aims to discuss topics such as conflict, identity politics, war, military intervention, violence, segregation in Greig’s plays, with special emphasis on Europe (1994), Ramallah (2004), The American Pilot (2005), Damascus (2007), and Dunsinane (2010), which are set roughly in Europe, the Middle East, and the Scottish Highlands.

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