BibTex RIS Cite
Year 2003, Issue: 18, 49 - 64, 01.10.2003

Abstract

References

  • Aristotle. The Poetics of Aristotle: Translation and Commentary. Stephen Halliwell. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1987.
  • Benston, Kimberly. Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism. London: Routledge, 2000.
  • Geis, Deborah. Postmodern Theatric(k)s: Monologue in Contemporary American Drama. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996.
  • hooks, bell. Ain’t I A Woman. Boston: South End Press, 1981.
  • ———. Yearning: Race, Gender and Cultural Politics. Boston: South End Press, 1990.
  • Kennedy, Adrienne. Funnyhouse of A Negro. Black Drama: An Anthology. Eds. William Brasmer and Dominick Consolo. Ohio: CE Merrill, 1970. 245-273.
  • Feminine Focus. Ed. Enoch Brater. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989. 226-240.
  • Kintz, Linda. The Subject’s Tragedy: The Political Poetics, Feminist Theory and Drama. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1992.
  • Intersecting Boundaries: The Theatre of Adrienne Kennedy. Eds. Paul Bryant-Jackson and Lois More Overbeck. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1992. 93-109.
  • Werner, Craig Hansen. Playing the Changes. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1994.

Transformations of the African-American Self in Adrienne Kennedy’s "Funnyhouse" and "Owl"dom

Year 2003, Issue: 18, 49 - 64, 01.10.2003

Abstract

Presenting an oeuvre that reflects a variety of genres and an unyielding innovativeness, Adrienne Kennedy paved the way for many black dramatists, Ntozake Shange among them. Furthermore, she has contributed to the debates on identity that form the postmodern notion of self, which remains multiple, transformational and therefore resists definition. She has been awarded various fellowships and three Obie awards. Despite this success she is not a popular playwright; the interest in her work remains limited solely to academic studies. This is because her plays are not easily accessible and they do not in any way present easy solutions or role models. Additionally, due to the lack of propaganda in her works, Kennedy was welcomed neither by feminists nor by black Americans especially in the 1960s. Today, with respect to their presenting the subject in its plurality, her plays are evaluated as introducing a new mode of representation as well as a contemporary notion of cultural identity that brings together the fragments of multiple cultures. The notion of self she introduces is both cultural and gendered, and also is in the process of becoming—self at the "intersecting boundaries.

References

  • Aristotle. The Poetics of Aristotle: Translation and Commentary. Stephen Halliwell. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 1987.
  • Benston, Kimberly. Performing Blackness: Enactments of African-American Modernism. London: Routledge, 2000.
  • Geis, Deborah. Postmodern Theatric(k)s: Monologue in Contemporary American Drama. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1996.
  • hooks, bell. Ain’t I A Woman. Boston: South End Press, 1981.
  • ———. Yearning: Race, Gender and Cultural Politics. Boston: South End Press, 1990.
  • Kennedy, Adrienne. Funnyhouse of A Negro. Black Drama: An Anthology. Eds. William Brasmer and Dominick Consolo. Ohio: CE Merrill, 1970. 245-273.
  • Feminine Focus. Ed. Enoch Brater. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989. 226-240.
  • Kintz, Linda. The Subject’s Tragedy: The Political Poetics, Feminist Theory and Drama. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1992.
  • Intersecting Boundaries: The Theatre of Adrienne Kennedy. Eds. Paul Bryant-Jackson and Lois More Overbeck. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1992. 93-109.
  • Werner, Craig Hansen. Playing the Changes. Chicago: U of Illinois P, 1994.
There are 10 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Özge Özbek This is me

Publication Date October 1, 2003
Published in Issue Year 2003 Issue: 18

Cite

MLA Özbek, Özge. “Transformations of the African-American Self in Adrienne Kennedy’s "Funnyhouse" and ‘Owl’dom”. Journal of American Studies of Turkey, no. 18, 2003, pp. 49-64.

JAST - Journal of American Studies of Turkey