Abstract
John Guare’s renowned play Six Degrees of Separation (1990) exposes the protagonist Paul’s endeavour to assert his identity and find a place, by creating false identities, in the world of high-class individuals which is bounded by class, race, and sexual orientation. In delineating his journey into modern American culture, John Guare employs Kandinsky’s double-sided painting along with many other artistic devices such as flashbacks, flashforwards, cross-cutting, and different narrative techniques. Kandinsky’s painting, which dominates the stage with its slow movement, mirrors the varied aspects of social life where the characters hold no enduring and steady connection with reality. This painting also projects the emotional and psychological dilemma of the characters in the social life where they lose their sense of humanity and moral ideals. In this respect, this paper intends to explore how Kandinsky’s ideas of art and his double-sided painting constitute the quintessence of the play, reflecting the materialism of decadent contemporary society and its emotional and psychological impacts on the characters.
References
- Bigsby, Christopher (2004). Contemporary American Playwrights. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Bruhn, Siglind (2001). “A Concert of Paintings: ‘Musical Ekphrasis’ in the Twentieth Century”. Poetics Today, 22(3): 551-605.
- Cattaneo, Anne (1992). “John Guare: The Art of Theatre IX”. The Paris Review, 125: 69-103.
- Eidt, Laura M. Sager (2008). “Toward a Definition of Ekphrasis in Literature and Film”. Writing and Filming the Painting: Ekphrasis in Literature and Film. New York: Rodopi.
- Guare, John (1992). Six Degrees of Separation. New York: Lincoln Center Theatre.
- Guerman, Mikhail (2015). Vasily Kandinsky: 1866-1944. New York: Parkstone International.
- Heuvel, Mike Vanden (2007). “From Paradise to Parasite: Information Theory, Noise, and Disequilibrium in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation”. Interrogating America Through Theatre and Performance. Eds. William W. Demastes & Iris Smith Fischer. New York: Palgrave, 233-242.
- Kandinsky, Wassily (2015a). Concerning the Spiritual in Art. USA: Sheba Blake Publishing.
- Kandinsky, Wassily (2015b). Kandinsky. USA: Parkstone Press International.
- Langis, Unhae (2011). “The Aest/ethics of Imagination and Deceit in Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation: A Foucauldian-Aristotelian Reading”. Pivot: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Thought, 1(1): 84-106.
- Linne, Larry G., & Sitkins, Patrick (2013). Brand Damage: It’s Personal! Bloomington: Author House.
- Malle, Louis (1982). Three Exposures: Plays by John Guare. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
- Plunka, Gene A. (2002). The Black Comedy of John Guare. Newark: Delaware UP.
- Plunka, Gene A. (2005). “John Guare and the Popular Culture Hype of Celebrity Status”. A Companion to Twentieth Century American Drama. Ed. David Krasner. Malden: Blackwell, 352-369.
- Stockton, Kathryn Bond (2009). The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century. Durham and London: Duke UP.
- Turina, Ana Fernandez-Caparros (2011). “The Geography of Imagination: Urban Mapping of Social Networks in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation”. South Atlantic Review, 76(4): 57-74.
- Uçar, Asya Sakine (2021). “A Painting and A Slave Ship: Ruskin’s Visual Narrative On Turner”. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi, 6(3): 609-618.
- Urban, Ken (2014). “John Guare.” The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights. Eds. Martin Middeke and others. London: Bloomsbury, 58-75.
- Vera, Herman, & Gordon, Andrew M. (2003). Screen Saviours: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Wagner, Peter (1996). Icons-Texts-Iconotexts: Essays on Ekphrasis and Intermediality. Berlin: Gruyter.
Abstract
John Guare’in ünlü oyunu Altı Derecelik Ayrılık (1990), ana karakter Paul’un sınıf, ırk ve cinsel yönelimle sınırlandırılmış üst sınıf bireylerin dünyasında sahte kimlikler yaratarak kimliğini ortaya koyma ve kendine yer bulma çabasını ele alır. Paul’un çağdaş Amerikan kültürüne yolculuğunu betimlerken, John Guare Kandinsky’nin çift-yönlü resminin yanı sıra fleşbek, ileriye atlama, paralel zamanlama ve farklı kurgu biçimlerini kullanır. Yavaş hareketiyle sahneye hâkim olan Kandinsky’nin resmi, karakterlerin gerçeklikle sürekli ve sabit bir bağının olmadığı toplumsal yaşamın çeşitli yönlerini yansıtır. Bu resim aynı zamanda onların insani duygularını ve ahlaki ideallerini yitirdiği sosyal hayattaki duygusal ve psikolojik ikilemlerini ortaya koyar. Bu bağlamda, bu makale Kandinsky’nin sanat fikirlerinin ve çift-yönlü resminin oyunun özünü nasıl oluşturduğunu ve çökmekte olan çağdaş toplumun materialist anlayışını ve bunun karakterler üzerindeki duygusal ve psikolojik etkilerini nasıl yansıttığını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır.
References
- Bigsby, Christopher (2004). Contemporary American Playwrights. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Bruhn, Siglind (2001). “A Concert of Paintings: ‘Musical Ekphrasis’ in the Twentieth Century”. Poetics Today, 22(3): 551-605.
- Cattaneo, Anne (1992). “John Guare: The Art of Theatre IX”. The Paris Review, 125: 69-103.
- Eidt, Laura M. Sager (2008). “Toward a Definition of Ekphrasis in Literature and Film”. Writing and Filming the Painting: Ekphrasis in Literature and Film. New York: Rodopi.
- Guare, John (1992). Six Degrees of Separation. New York: Lincoln Center Theatre.
- Guerman, Mikhail (2015). Vasily Kandinsky: 1866-1944. New York: Parkstone International.
- Heuvel, Mike Vanden (2007). “From Paradise to Parasite: Information Theory, Noise, and Disequilibrium in John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation”. Interrogating America Through Theatre and Performance. Eds. William W. Demastes & Iris Smith Fischer. New York: Palgrave, 233-242.
- Kandinsky, Wassily (2015a). Concerning the Spiritual in Art. USA: Sheba Blake Publishing.
- Kandinsky, Wassily (2015b). Kandinsky. USA: Parkstone Press International.
- Langis, Unhae (2011). “The Aest/ethics of Imagination and Deceit in Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation: A Foucauldian-Aristotelian Reading”. Pivot: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies and Thought, 1(1): 84-106.
- Linne, Larry G., & Sitkins, Patrick (2013). Brand Damage: It’s Personal! Bloomington: Author House.
- Malle, Louis (1982). Three Exposures: Plays by John Guare. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
- Plunka, Gene A. (2002). The Black Comedy of John Guare. Newark: Delaware UP.
- Plunka, Gene A. (2005). “John Guare and the Popular Culture Hype of Celebrity Status”. A Companion to Twentieth Century American Drama. Ed. David Krasner. Malden: Blackwell, 352-369.
- Stockton, Kathryn Bond (2009). The Queer Child, or Growing Sideways in the Twentieth Century. Durham and London: Duke UP.
- Turina, Ana Fernandez-Caparros (2011). “The Geography of Imagination: Urban Mapping of Social Networks in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation”. South Atlantic Review, 76(4): 57-74.
- Uçar, Asya Sakine (2021). “A Painting and A Slave Ship: Ruskin’s Visual Narrative On Turner”. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi, 6(3): 609-618.
- Urban, Ken (2014). “John Guare.” The Methuen Drama Guide to Contemporary American Playwrights. Eds. Martin Middeke and others. London: Bloomsbury, 58-75.
- Vera, Herman, & Gordon, Andrew M. (2003). Screen Saviours: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness. New York: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Wagner, Peter (1996). Icons-Texts-Iconotexts: Essays on Ekphrasis and Intermediality. Berlin: Gruyter.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | Research Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | September 10, 2022 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2022 Issue: 14 |
