Abstract
American playwright Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning play, Sweat (2017), is
set in the town of Reading, Pennsylvania, and traces the life of a
working-class community as they experience the devastating, multi-faceted
effects of deindustrialization across the first decade of the twenty-first
century. While concerned with the changing nature of American manufacturing
under late capitalism, the play’s depiction of labor draws on a broader
historical lens, and charts the intergenerational transmission of class
inequalities over time. Nottage uses a series of formal and structural
strategies to draw attention to how characters remember and narrate the past,
and how these memories’ racial and gendered tensions ultimately constrain their
efforts at mobilization. In its focus on memory, biography, and the body, Sweat not only participates in what has
been called the recent deindustrialization literature, but also revisits some
of the key aesthetic choices surrounding the depiction of capitalism in modern American
drama.
References
- Bibliography
- Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice (Trans. Richard Nice). Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
- Brown, E. (2016). “Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Blood.” Interview Magazine December 13. https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/lynn-nottage-sweat
- Connerton, P. (1989). How Societies Remember. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Glasberg, E. (2017). “‘Sweat,’ an Acclaimed Play by Prof. Lynn Nottage, Opens on Broadway.” Columbia News March 3. https://news.columbia.edu/news/sweat-acclaimed-play-prof-lynn-nottage-opens-broadway
- Linkon, S.L. (2018). The Half-Life of Deindustrialization: Working-Class Writing about Economic Restructuring. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
- Miller, A. (2000). Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem. Penguin Books, London.
- Mohler, C. E., C. McMahon, and D. Román (2016). “Three Readings of Reading, Pennsylvania: Approaching Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Douglas Carter Beane’s Shows for Days.” Theatre Journal 68/1, 79-94.
- Nottage, L. (2015). “Extracting Art from a Downfall.” The New York Times July 30. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/29/theater/20150802-sweat.html
- Nottage, L. (2017). Sweat. Theatre Communications Group, New York.
- Schulman, M. (2017). “The First Theatrical Landmark of the Trump Era.” The New Yorker March 27 Issue. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-first-theatrical-landmark-of-the-trump-era
- Sweet, S., and P. Meiksins (2017). Changing Contours of Work: Jobs and Opportunities in the New Economy. Sage Publications, Los Angeles.
- Willis, P. (1977). Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Saxon House, Farnborough.
Abstract
Amerikan oyun
yazarı Lynn Nottage’ın Pulitzer Ödülü alan oyunu Sweat (2017), Pennsylvania eyaletinin Reading şehrinde geçer ve yirmi
birinci yüzyılın başlangıcında bu şehirde yaşayan ve işçi sınıfının parçası
olan bir topluluğun sanayisizleşmenin beraberinde getirdiği kapsamlı yıkımı
nasıl tecrübe ettiklerini anlatır. Oyun, kapitalizmin geç döneminde Amerikan
üretiminin değişimiyle ilgilenir, fakat emek sorunsalını daha geniş bir
tarihsel çerçevede ele alır ve sınıf eşitsizliklerinin nesiller arasında nasıl tekrarlanıp
yeniden üretildiklerini gösterir. Nottage oyunda bazı formel ve yapısal
stratejiler kullanarak karakterlerin geçmişi nasıl hatırladıklarını ve
anlattıklarını, ve bu hatıraların toplumsal cinsiyet ve ırk açısından
taşıdıkları gerginliklerin işçilerin güncel seferberliklerini nasıl etkilediğini
inceler. Bellek, biyografi ve beden sorunsalları üzerinde duran Sweat sadece sanayisizleşmeyi anlatan
edebi akıma katkıda bulunmaz, aynı zamanda modern Amerikan tiyatrosunun
kapitalizmi tasvir edişindeki estetik seçimleri de yeniden ele alır.
References
- Bibliography
- Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice (Trans. Richard Nice). Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.
- Brown, E. (2016). “Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Blood.” Interview Magazine December 13. https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/lynn-nottage-sweat
- Connerton, P. (1989). How Societies Remember. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- Glasberg, E. (2017). “‘Sweat,’ an Acclaimed Play by Prof. Lynn Nottage, Opens on Broadway.” Columbia News March 3. https://news.columbia.edu/news/sweat-acclaimed-play-prof-lynn-nottage-opens-broadway
- Linkon, S.L. (2018). The Half-Life of Deindustrialization: Working-Class Writing about Economic Restructuring. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
- Miller, A. (2000). Death of a Salesman: Certain Private Conversations in Two Acts and a Requiem. Penguin Books, London.
- Mohler, C. E., C. McMahon, and D. Román (2016). “Three Readings of Reading, Pennsylvania: Approaching Lynn Nottage’s Sweat and Douglas Carter Beane’s Shows for Days.” Theatre Journal 68/1, 79-94.
- Nottage, L. (2015). “Extracting Art from a Downfall.” The New York Times July 30. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/29/theater/20150802-sweat.html
- Nottage, L. (2017). Sweat. Theatre Communications Group, New York.
- Schulman, M. (2017). “The First Theatrical Landmark of the Trump Era.” The New Yorker March 27 Issue. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/27/the-first-theatrical-landmark-of-the-trump-era
- Sweet, S., and P. Meiksins (2017). Changing Contours of Work: Jobs and Opportunities in the New Economy. Sage Publications, Los Angeles.
- Willis, P. (1977). Learning to Labour: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs. Saxon House, Farnborough.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | October 24, 2019 |
| Acceptance Date | July 16, 2019 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2019 Issue: 37 |
