AĞIT VE ŞİFA: WALLACE SHAWN’UN THE DESIGNATED MOURNER OYUNUNDA RİTUEL

Abstract

Wallace Shawn’un The Designated Mourner adlı oyunu Jack, karısı Judy ve kayınpederi Howard arasındaki ilişkiyi merkeze alır. Bir anı oyunu yapısı içerisinde, Jack sadece kişisel hayatında Judy ve Howard ile problemlerini değil aynı zamanda kamusal hayatta totaliter ideolojiden kaynaklanan politik huzursuzluğu da hatırlamaktadır. İsimlendirilmeyen bir toplumda geçen bu oyun, şiddet ve otoriterizmi devlet politikalarını eleştirenlerin cezalandırıldığı, sessizleştirildiği ve engellendiği hapsedilme ve infaz uygulamaları ile beraber sergiler. Üst-sınıf elit bireyleri temsil eden Judy, Howard ve monologlarda bahsedilen arkadaşları bu faşist totaliter devlet tarafından kurban edilmiştir. Judy, Howard ve diğer elitler infaz edildiği için, Jack ölenlerin arkasından yas tutan tek hayatta kalan kişidir. The Designated Mourner oyununda ritüel en güçlü ve etkileyici yapılardan biridir çünkü oyun çok özel küçük bir dünya yok olduğu için acı çeken Jack’in kendini “the designated mourner” (belirlenmiş ağıtçı) olarak tanıtmasıyla başlar ve biter. Bu çalışma, Jack’in bu isimsiz faşist toplumdaki sarsıcı deneyimlerine odaklanarak, ritüellerin bireylerin krizleri atlatmalarını sağlayan modeller olarak kullanımlarını inceler.

Keywords

• wallace shawn,
• The Designated Mourner,
• Ritüel,
• Ağıt, şifa

MOURNING AND HEALING: THE RITUAL IN WALLACE SHAWN’S THE DESIGNATED MOURNER

Abstract

Wallace Shawn’s play The Designated Mourner (1996) centers on the relationship among the three characters: Jack, his wife Judy, and his father-in-law Howard. In a memory play structure, Jack remembers not only the tensions in his private life with Judy and Howard but also the social and political unrest that emanates from the totalitarian ideology in public life. Set in an unnamed society, the play displays violence and authoritarianism along with practices of incarceration and execution in which the individuals who may criticize the state policies are punished, silenced, and eliminated. Judy, Howard, and the friends they mention in their monologues, who stand as representatives of high-brow elite intellectuals, are victimized under this fascist, totalitarian state. Since Judy, Howard, and other elites are executed, Jack becomes the only survivor who laments for the deceased. The ritual is one of the most potent and impressive forms in The Designated Mourner since the play ends the same way it begins in which Jack introduces himself as “the designated mourner” who grieves for the disappearance of a very special little world. This paper elaborates on how rituals emerge as patterns enabling individuals to overcome crises, focusing on Jack’s disorienting experiences in this unnamed fascist society.

Keywords

• The Designated Mourner
• Ritual
• Mourning
• Wallace Shawn
• Healing

References

1. Bolton, C., & Camp, D. J. (1987). Funeral rituals and the facilitation of grief work. Omega, 17 (4), 343-352. doi: 10.2190/VDHT-MFRC-LY7L-EMN7
2. Durkheim, E. (1995). Elementary forms of religious life (K. E. Fields, Trans.) The Free Press. (Original work published 1912).
3. Egan, R. G. (1997). [Review of The Designated Mourner by Wallace Shawn]. Theatre Journal 49(2), 236-237.
4. Fuss, D. (2013). Dying modern: A meditation on elegy. Duke University Press.
5. Jacobs, J. L. (1992). Religious ritual and mental health. In J. F. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health. (pp. 291-299). Oxford University Press.
6. Kimball, S. T. (1960). Introduction. In The rites of passage (pp. v-xix). The University of Chicago Press.
7. Marranca, B. (2000). The solace of chocolate squares: Wallace Shawn in mourning. PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, 22(3), 28-46.
8. McGrath, P. (1997). Wallace Shawn [Interview]. Bomb, 59, 24-27.

9. Reeves, N. C., & Boersma F. J. (1990). The Therapeutic use of ritual in maladaptive grieving. Omega, 20 (4), 281-291. doi: 10.2190/LL2H-T89A-P8K5-742P
10. Robinson, M. (2009). The American Play 1781-2000. Yale.
11. Romanoff B. D., & Terenzio M. (1998). Rituals and the grieving process. Death Studies, 22(8), 697-711. https://doi.org/10.1080/074811898201227
12. Sas C.,Whittaker S., & Zimmerman J. (2016). Design for rituals of letting go: An embodiment perspective on disposal practices informed by grief therapy. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 23 (4), [21]. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2926714
13. Sas, C. & Coman A. (2016). Designing personal grief rituals: An analysis of symbolic objects and actions. Death Studies, 40(9), 558-569. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2016.1188868
14. Schachter, B. (2000). Shapes, forms, and shadows: The search for the self in the plays of Shawn, Nagy, Wellman and Parks (Publication No. 9969731) [Doctoral Dissertation, The City University of New York]. Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global.
15. Scheff, T. J. (1979). Catharsis in healing, ritual, and drama. University of California Press.
16. Shawn, W. (1996). The Designated Mourner. Faber and Faber.
17. Soloski, A. (2013). The Designated Mourner: Wallace Shawn’s rites and wrongs. The Village Voice. https://www.villagevoice.com/2013/07/24/the-designated-mourner-wallace-shawns-rites-and-wrongs/
18. Turner, V. (1974). Dramas, fields and metaphors: Symbolic action in human society. Cornell University Press.
19. Turner, V. (1977). The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
20. Van der Hart, O & Goossens, F. A. (1987). Leave-taking rituals in mourning therapy. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 24 (1-2), 87-98.
21. Van Gennep A. (1960). The rites of passage. The University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1909).