Research Article

The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology

Volume: 28 Number: 1 June 22, 2018
TR EN

The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology

Abstract

This study aims to examine The Pillowman—a noteworthy play written by the postmodern British playwright Martin McDonagh—in the context of the narrative prosthesis introduced by David Mitchel and Sharon Synder under the umbrella term ‘disability studies’. The study examines the characters in Mcdonagh’s play in terms of their literary characteristics in relation to the concepts of ‘normalcy’ and ‘disability’ within disability studies. In this context, the study revolves around McDonagh’s creation of ‘existential’ aspects of ‘disabled’ characters which has implications for the meaning of the play, the politics of the anomaly, and the narrative and disability relationship. The article explains the concept of narrative prosthesis as well as a number of interpretations on Critical Disability Studies, a current approach which is an intellectual and educational discipline studying the implication, nature, and consequences of disability as a cultural, social and literary construct. For this reason, this article tries to find out the applicability of the narrative prosthesis through the author-play relationship focusing on references from the play and related works. In this respect, this article will also examine McDonagh’s play, which is enriched by ‘disabled’ characters, in the lens of ‘cultural and literary investment’.

Keywords

References

  1. Barthes, R. (1975). The pleasure of the text. New York, NY: Hill and Wang.
  2. Hall, A. (2016). Literature and disability. New York, NY: Roultedge.
  3. Higl, A. (2012). Playing the canterbury tales: The continuations and additions. Surrey, UK: Ashgate.
  4. Higl, A. (2016). Henryson’s textual and narrative prosthesis onto chaucer’s corpus: Ceresseid’s leprocy and her schort conclusioun. In J. R. Eyler (Ed.), Disability in the middle ages: reconsiderations and reverberations (pp. 167-181). New York, NY: Routledge.
  5. Johnston, K. (2016). Disability theatre and modern drama. London, UK: Bloomsbury.
  6. Lawrence, L. J. (2013). Sense and stigma in the gospels: Depictions of sensory-disabled characters. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
  7. Lennard J. D. (1995). Enforcing normalcy: Disability, deafness and the body. London, UK: Verso.
  8. McDonagh, M. (2003). The pillowman. London, UK: Dramatists Play Service Inc.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Creative Arts and Writing

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 22, 2018

Submission Date

April 15, 2018

Acceptance Date

June 22, 2018

Published in Issue

Year 2018 Volume: 28 Number: 1

APA
Çakırtaş, Ö. (2018). The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, 28(1), 33-51. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA398079
AMA
1.Çakırtaş Ö. The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology. Litera. 2018;28(1):33-51. doi:10.26650/LITERA398079
Chicago
Çakırtaş, Önder. 2018. “The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality Vs. Psychopathology”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 28 (1): 33-51. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA398079.
EndNote
Çakırtaş Ö (June 1, 2018) The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 28 1 33–51.
IEEE
[1]Ö. Çakırtaş, “The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology”, Litera, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 33–51, June 2018, doi: 10.26650/LITERA398079.
ISNAD
Çakırtaş, Önder. “The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality Vs. Psychopathology”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies 28/1 (June 1, 2018): 33-51. https://doi.org/10.26650/LITERA398079.
JAMA
1.Çakırtaş Ö. The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology. Litera. 2018;28:33–51.
MLA
Çakırtaş, Önder. “The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality Vs. Psychopathology”. Litera: Journal of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, vol. 28, no. 1, June 2018, pp. 33-51, doi:10.26650/LITERA398079.
Vancouver
1.Önder Çakırtaş. The Image of Narrative Prosthesis in McDonagh’s The Pillowman: Normality vs. Psychopathology. Litera. 2018 Jun. 1;28(1):33-51. doi:10.26650/LITERA398079