Abstract
References
- Albee, E. (1962). Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Signet.
- Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics (C. Emerson, Ed. & Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1963)
- Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). Rabelais and his world (H. Iswolsky, Trans.). Indiana University Press. (Original work published 1965)
- Bennett, M. Y. (2011). Reassessing the theatre of the absurd: Camus, Becket Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bigsby, C. W. E. (2004). Modern American drama, 1945–2000. Cambridge University Press.
- Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2005). Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Chelsea House Publishers.
- Bottoms, S. J. (2000). Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Cambridge University Press.
- Dace, L. S. (1967). The theatre of the absurd: Its themes and form (Master’s thesis, Kansas State University).
- Dentith, S. (2005). Bakhtinian thought: An introductory reader. Routledge.
- Dukore, B. F. (1961). The theatre of Ionesco: A union of form and substance. Educational Theatre Journal, 13(3), 174–181.
- Esslin, M. (2004). The theatre of the absurd (3rd ed.). Vintage.
- Fuchs, E. (1996). The death of character: perspectives on theater after modernism. Indiana University Press.
- Gray, W. (1963). The uses of incongruity. Educational Theatre Journal, 15(4), 343 347.
- Holquist, M. (2002). Dialogism: Bakhtin and his world (2nd ed.). Routledge.
- Ionesco, E. (1958). Four Plays by Eugène Ionesco. (D.M. Allen, Trans.) Grove Press.
- McCaw, D. (2016). Bakhtin and theatre: Dialogues with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Grotowski. Routledge.
- Morson, G. S., & Emerson, C. (1990). Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a prosaics. Stanford University Press.
- Renfrew, A. (2015). Mikhail Bakhtin. Routledge.
- Roudané, M. C. (1987). Understanding Edward Albee. University of South Carolina Press.
- Storm, W. (2011). Irony and the modern theatre. Cambridge University Press.
EĞLENTİ, ANLAMSIZLIK VE GROTESK: THE BALD SOPRANO VE WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF OYUNLARINDA KARNAVALESK SAHNELEMESİ
Abstract
Bu çalışma, Eugène Ionesco’nun The Bald Soprano (1950) ve Edward Albee’nin Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) oyunlarını, Mihail Bahtin’in karnavalesk kuramı ışığında incelemektedir. Çalışma, özellikle absürt dramaturjinin yerleşik sosyal normları nasıl istikrarsızlaştırdığına odaklanmaktadır. Ionesco, burjuva söylemini parodileştirmek için anlatının dilsel tutarlılığını bilerek bozarken; Albee ise daha gerçekçi bir yapı kurarak aile yaşamının altında yatan ideolojik ve duygusal kırılmaları ifşa eder. Estetik stratejilerindeki bu farklılığa rağmen, her iki oyunun da merkezindeki bir parti sahnesi, hiyerarşik normların geçici olarak askıya alındığı, dilin, kimliğin ve otoritenin içsel istikrarsızlığının ortaya çıktığı bir karnavalesk alan sunar. Gülünç mizah, performatif aşırılık ve parçalanmış söylem yoluyla absürdü güçlendiren bu oyunlar, toplumsal yaşamın performatif senaryolarını ele almakta ve gündelik etkileşimlerin dokusundaki istikrar yanılsamasına meydan okumaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu çalışma, hiyerarşik ve söylemsel normların geçici olarak çözülmesinin ve bir absürtlük patlamasının orkestrasyonunu vurgular; bu süreçte parti alanı, dönüştürücü bir özgürleşme mekânına dönüşür. Ancak, hem Kel Şarkıcı hem de Kim Korkar Hain Kurttan? eserlerindeki ironik doruk noktası, karakterlerin kaçınılmaz olarak tanımlanmış, tanıdık rollerine geri dönmeleriyle ve çöken hakikatlerin yeniden tesis edilen cephelere yenik düşmesiyle ortaya çıkar. Seyirci burada varoluşsal durumlarının döngüsel doğasını deneyimler ve absürdün özgürleştirici tiyatrosunda bile sosyal konvansiyonun hâkimiyetinin kırılmadığı paradoksuyla yüzleşir. Çalışma, her iki oyunda da bu döngüselliği pekiştiren, hem dönüştürücü bir tersine çevrilme aracı hem de toplumsal eleştiri vasıtası olarak işlev gören bir karnavalesk kurban figürünün sunulduğunu iddia eder. Titizlikle düzenlenmiş Smith hanesinin eşi Mrs. Smith, sözel saçmalık ve performatif tutarsızlık tuzağına düşerek burjuva düzeninin ritüelinin söküldüğünü ima eder ve Bahtinci altüst oluş ve yenilenme kavramlarıyla hizalanır. Benzer şekilde, George'un duygusal yıkımının kaynağı Martha, odak noktasındaki karnavalesk kurban olarak sunulur, maskesi düşürülür ve duygusal olarak ifşa edilerek aşağılanmanın döngüsel çarkını başlatır. Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma, bu kurban figürlerinin toplumsal performansı yöneten, kaçınılmaz, ritüelleşmiş aşağılanma döngülerini kolektif olarak açığa çıkardığını savunmaktadır. Bu, otoritenin kırılgan temellerini ve burjuva ideolojisini sürdüren, kendini daim ettiren iktidar mekanizmalarını ifşa eden bir analiz sunmaktadır.
References
- Albee, E. (1962). Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Signet.
- Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics (C. Emerson, Ed. & Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1963)
- Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). Rabelais and his world (H. Iswolsky, Trans.). Indiana University Press. (Original work published 1965)
- Bennett, M. Y. (2011). Reassessing the theatre of the absurd: Camus, Becket Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bigsby, C. W. E. (2004). Modern American drama, 1945–2000. Cambridge University Press.
- Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2005). Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Chelsea House Publishers.
- Bottoms, S. J. (2000). Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Cambridge University Press.
- Dace, L. S. (1967). The theatre of the absurd: Its themes and form (Master’s thesis, Kansas State University).
- Dentith, S. (2005). Bakhtinian thought: An introductory reader. Routledge.
- Dukore, B. F. (1961). The theatre of Ionesco: A union of form and substance. Educational Theatre Journal, 13(3), 174–181.
- Esslin, M. (2004). The theatre of the absurd (3rd ed.). Vintage.
- Fuchs, E. (1996). The death of character: perspectives on theater after modernism. Indiana University Press.
- Gray, W. (1963). The uses of incongruity. Educational Theatre Journal, 15(4), 343 347.
- Holquist, M. (2002). Dialogism: Bakhtin and his world (2nd ed.). Routledge.
- Ionesco, E. (1958). Four Plays by Eugène Ionesco. (D.M. Allen, Trans.) Grove Press.
- McCaw, D. (2016). Bakhtin and theatre: Dialogues with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Grotowski. Routledge.
- Morson, G. S., & Emerson, C. (1990). Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a prosaics. Stanford University Press.
- Renfrew, A. (2015). Mikhail Bakhtin. Routledge.
- Roudané, M. C. (1987). Understanding Edward Albee. University of South Carolina Press.
- Storm, W. (2011). Irony and the modern theatre. Cambridge University Press.
REVELRY, ABSURDITY, AND THE GROTESQUE: STAGING THE CARNIVALESQUE IN THE BALD SOPRANO AND WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Abstract
This study examines Eugène Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano (1950) and Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque, with particular concentration on how absurdist dramaturgy is employed to destabilise established social norms. Ionesco deliberately disturbs the linguistic coherence of the narrative to parody bourgeois discourse; Albee, though, exposes the ideological and emotional ruptures that underlie domestic life through fashioning a more realistic structure. Despite their divergent aesthetic strategies, a party scene at the heart of both plays offers a carnivalesque space where a temporary subversion of hierarchical norms leads to the exposure of the inherent instability of language, identity, and authority. By amplifying the absurd through grotesque humour, performative excess, and fragmented discourse, both plays address the performative scripts of social life and challenge the illusion of stability in the fabric of everyday interactions. This study, therefore, highlights the orchestration of the temporary dissolution of hierarchical and discursive norms, an eruption of absurdity, in which the party space becomes a site of transgressive liberation. Yet, the ironic climax in both The Bald Soprano and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? occurs once the characters inevitably return to their defined, familiar roles and once the collapsed truths succumb to restored facades. The audience here experiences the cyclical nature of their existential condition and faces the paradox that even within the liberating theatrics of the absurd, the grip of social convention remains unbroken. Each play presents a carnivalesque victim whose symbolic function reinforces this cyclicality, serving both as an agent of transgressive inversion and a vehicle for social critique. Mrs Smith, the wife in the domestically rigid Smith household, falls into the trap of verbal absurdity and performative incoherence, suggesting that the ritual of bourgeois order is being disassembled, aligned with Bakhtinian notions of subversion and renewal. Likewise, Martha, George’s emotionally destructive wife, is presented as the focal carnivalesque victim, unmasked and emotionally exposed, to introduce the revolving cycle of humiliation. Taken together, this study argues that these victims collectively reveal the inescapable, ritualized cycles of humiliation governing social performance, exposing the fragile foundations of authority and the self-perpetuating mechanisms of power that sustain bourgeois ideology.
References
- Albee, E. (1962). Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Signet.
- Bakhtin, M. (1984). Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics (C. Emerson, Ed. & Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1963)
- Bakhtin, M. M. (1984). Rabelais and his world (H. Iswolsky, Trans.). Indiana University Press. (Original work published 1965)
- Bennett, M. Y. (2011). Reassessing the theatre of the absurd: Camus, Becket Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Bigsby, C. W. E. (2004). Modern American drama, 1945–2000. Cambridge University Press.
- Bloom, H. (Ed.). (2005). Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Chelsea House Publishers.
- Bottoms, S. J. (2000). Albee: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Cambridge University Press.
- Dace, L. S. (1967). The theatre of the absurd: Its themes and form (Master’s thesis, Kansas State University).
- Dentith, S. (2005). Bakhtinian thought: An introductory reader. Routledge.
- Dukore, B. F. (1961). The theatre of Ionesco: A union of form and substance. Educational Theatre Journal, 13(3), 174–181.
- Esslin, M. (2004). The theatre of the absurd (3rd ed.). Vintage.
- Fuchs, E. (1996). The death of character: perspectives on theater after modernism. Indiana University Press.
- Gray, W. (1963). The uses of incongruity. Educational Theatre Journal, 15(4), 343 347.
- Holquist, M. (2002). Dialogism: Bakhtin and his world (2nd ed.). Routledge.
- Ionesco, E. (1958). Four Plays by Eugène Ionesco. (D.M. Allen, Trans.) Grove Press.
- McCaw, D. (2016). Bakhtin and theatre: Dialogues with Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Grotowski. Routledge.
- Morson, G. S., & Emerson, C. (1990). Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a prosaics. Stanford University Press.
- Renfrew, A. (2015). Mikhail Bakhtin. Routledge.
- Roudané, M. C. (1987). Understanding Edward Albee. University of South Carolina Press.
- Storm, W. (2011). Irony and the modern theatre. Cambridge University Press.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | British and Irish Language, Literature and Culture |
| Journal Section | Research Article |
| Authors | |
| Submission Date | May 17, 2025 |
| Acceptance Date | February 25, 2026 |
| Publication Date | April 29, 2026 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.69878/deuefad.1701300 |
| IZ | https://izlik.org/JA84CW24KW |
| Published in Issue | Year 2026 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 |