Act Like a Man: Challenging Masculinities in American Drama - Couverture souple

Vorlicky, Robert

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0472065726 ISBN 13 : 9780472065721

Editeur : The University of Michigan Press, 1995

Synopsis

In the first comprehensive study of plays written for male characters only, Robert Vorlicky offers a new theory that links cultural codes governing gender and the conventions determining dramatic form. Act Like a Manlooks at a range of plays, including those by O'Neill, Albee, Mamet, Baraka, and Rabe as well as new works by Philip Kan Gotanda, Alonzo Lamont, and Robin Swados, to examine how dialogue within these works reflects the social codes of male behavior and inhibits individualization among men. Plays in which women are absent are often characterized by the location of a male "other"—a female presence who distances himself from the dominant, impersonal masculine ethos and thereby becomes a facilitator of personal communication. The potential authority of this figure is so powerful that its presence becomes the primary determinant of the quality of men's interaction and of the range of male subjectivities possible. This formulation becomes the basis of an alternative theory of American dramatic construction, one that challenges traditional dramaturgical notions of realism. The book will appeal to scholars and students interested in drama, gender, race, sexuality, and American culture, as well as playwrights, teachers of playwrights, and artistic directors. It includes an extensive bibliography of more than four hundred male-cast plays and monodramas, the first such compilation and one that points to further research into a previously unexplored area.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Robert Vorlicky is Associate Professor of English and Theatre, Marymount Manhattan College.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The University of Michigan Press
• Date d'édition: 1995
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0472065726
• ISBN 13: 9780472065721
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 400
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible