Description
This thesis considers how historiographic metadrama which deals with a plurality of feminist issues has become a key methodological approach used by contemporary feminist playwrights. Focusing on the oeuvres of Lauren Gunderson and Jaclyn Backhaus, I argue that following on from a line of feminist playwrights, twenty-first-century American feminist playwrights use historiographic metadrama to examine modes of history-telling by drawing attention to the constructedness of narratives through metadramatic conceits. Using the foundational feminist works of bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Judith Butler and Sara Ahmed, I trace how Gunderson and Backhaus use metadramatic retellings of historical stories to draw attention to the issues formed by patriarchal, white supremacist, cisheteronormative systems of oppression. Leaning on Richard Hornby’s work on metadrama and definitions of metadramatic functions, I consider how two of Gunderson’s plays and two of Backhaus’ plays toy with the metadramatic form and use it to a feminist end. By challenging traditional methods of historiography, Gunderson and Backhaus not only contend with the specific historical records they choose to interrogate, but they also suggest that history itself is marred by the prevalence of narratives from the perspectives of oppressive figures.| Period | 8 Jan 2025 |
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| Examinee | Beth Roberts |
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