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İngiliz Toplumunda Sınıf Farkındalığının Hicvi: John Arden’in Live like Pigs Adlı Tiyatro Oyunu

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 638 - 645, 29.12.2020
https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.778469

Abstract

John Arden’in 1961 tarihli oyunu Live like Pigs, İngiliz alt sınıfı, işçi sınıfı ve orta sınıfı arasındaki çatışmanın bir hicvini sunmaktadır. Düz yazı diliyle şarkıların şiirsel kullanımının bir araya getirilmesi yoluyla oyunbaz bir tona sahip olan on yedi sahnelik bu tiyatro oyunu, Britanya toplumunun sınıflar arası fark konusundaki hassasiyetini ağızda acı bir tat bırakacak biçimde alaya almaktadır. Oyun, Old Croaker, Blackmouth ve Daffodil gibi karakterlerin yanı sıra, Sailor karakterinin tüm ailesi de dahil olmak üzere çeşitli karakterlerin temsil ettiği alt sınıf kavramı ile, Britanya’nın sınıf farkındalığı yüksek toplumunun sayısız katmanındaki çeşitli davranış kodlarına ve yaşam biçimlerine değinmektedir. Bu kodlar ve yaşam biçimleri, devlet ve bütün olarak toplumun beklentilerine uymak veya uymamak, refah desteğine duyulan ihtiyaç, ahlaki ve estetik değerlerin normlarını oluşturacak araçlar olarak bahçelerin kullanımı ve geleneksel toplumsal cinsiyet roller gibi pek çok açıdan çeşitlilik göstermektedir. Bu makale, Arden’in oyununu, yazarın bu üç sınıf arasındaki çatışmayı hicvedişini gözler önüne seren kültürel çalışmalar perspektifinden yakın okuma tekniği ile incelemeyi hedeflemektedir. Hegemonya ve ideoloji kuramlarını tartışmanın alt yapısı olarak kullanan makale, bu üç sınıfın birbiriyle nasıl iktidar mücadelesine girdiğini irdelemektedir.

References

  • Althusser, Louis. (1992). “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” A Critical and Cultural Theory Reader. Eds. Antony Easthope and Kate McGowan. Buckingham: Open University Press. 50-57.
  • Arden, John. ([1961] 1984). Three Plays: The Waters of Babylon, Live like Pigs, the Happy Haven. London: Penguin.
  • Bernstein, Basil. (1960). “Language and Social Class.” The British Journal of Sociology 11, 3, 271-276. Access 09.08.2020. https://www.jstor.org/stable/586750
  • Bourke, Joanna. (1994). Gender, Class and Ethnicity. London: Routledge.
  • Cook, Jon. (2000). “Culture, Class and Taste.” Cultural Studies and the Working Class: Subject to Change. Ed. Sally R. Munt. London: Cassell. 97-112.
  • Cormack, Mike. (1992). Ideology. New York: Michigan University Press.
  • Eagleton, Terry. (1990). The Ideology of the Aesthetic. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. (1990). “Culture and Ideological Hegemony.” Culture and Society: Contemporary Debates. Eds. Jeffrey C. Alexander and Steven Seidmen. New York: Cambridge University Press. 47-54.
  • Wilson, William Julius. (2002). “From the Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy.” The Blackwell City Reader. Eds. Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson. Oxford: Blackwell. 261-269.

A Mockery of Class-Conscious Britain: John Arden’s Live like Pigs

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 638 - 645, 29.12.2020
https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.778469

Abstract

John Arden’s 1961 play Live like Pigs presents a mockery of the clash between British underclass, working class, and middle class. In its playful tone that is enhanced by the juxtaposition of the prosaic language with the poetic use of songs, the seventeen-scene play aims to make fun of class-conscious British society in a bitter way. With several characters representing the underclass way of life, such as Old Croaker, Blackmouth, and Daffodil, as well as the Sailor’s household, the play touches upon several behavioral codes and living patterns in the multiple layers of the class-conscious society of Britain. Those codes and patterns vary from conforming or not conforming to the expectations of the government and society as a whole, economic dependence on welfare support, the use of the gardens as tools of establishing the norms of moral and aesthetic values, as well as expected gender roles. This article seeks to read Arden’s play closely from a cultural studies perspective, which reveals the author’s mockery of the clash between these three classes. Using the theories of hegemony and ideology as a springboard for discussion, it analyzes how these three classes are in a power struggle with one another.

References

  • Althusser, Louis. (1992). “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” A Critical and Cultural Theory Reader. Eds. Antony Easthope and Kate McGowan. Buckingham: Open University Press. 50-57.
  • Arden, John. ([1961] 1984). Three Plays: The Waters of Babylon, Live like Pigs, the Happy Haven. London: Penguin.
  • Bernstein, Basil. (1960). “Language and Social Class.” The British Journal of Sociology 11, 3, 271-276. Access 09.08.2020. https://www.jstor.org/stable/586750
  • Bourke, Joanna. (1994). Gender, Class and Ethnicity. London: Routledge.
  • Cook, Jon. (2000). “Culture, Class and Taste.” Cultural Studies and the Working Class: Subject to Change. Ed. Sally R. Munt. London: Cassell. 97-112.
  • Cormack, Mike. (1992). Ideology. New York: Michigan University Press.
  • Eagleton, Terry. (1990). The Ideology of the Aesthetic. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. (1990). “Culture and Ideological Hegemony.” Culture and Society: Contemporary Debates. Eds. Jeffrey C. Alexander and Steven Seidmen. New York: Cambridge University Press. 47-54.
  • Wilson, William Julius. (2002). “From the Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, The Underclass, and Public Policy.” The Blackwell City Reader. Eds. Gary Bridge and Sophie Watson. Oxford: Blackwell. 261-269.
There are 9 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section ARAŞTIRMA MAKALELERİ (İNGİLİZCE)
Authors

Başak Ağın 0000-0002-4323-3686

Publication Date December 29, 2020
Submission Date August 9, 2020
Acceptance Date December 3, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Ağın, B. (2020). A Mockery of Class-Conscious Britain: John Arden’s Live like Pigs. Söylem Filoloji Dergisi, 5(2), 638-645. https://doi.org/10.29110/soylemdergi.778469