Sarah Kane has often been categorized as an “In-Yer-Face” playwright, part of a group of contemporary British playwrights interested in making audiences feel the outcome of violence. However, Kane’s plays have also arguably challenged many existing theatrical forms, including the late twentieth century resurgence of “Angry Young Men” plays. While critics have been quick to identify madness as a main theme of her work, few have connected each play’s complex construction of madness with a struggle to complicate existing theatrical form. Through an intersectionally feminist reading of three of her plays—Blasted, Crave, and 4.48 Psychosis—this thesis examines the connection between the rejection of normative disability tropes (or madness, more specifically) and the challenging construction of theatrical form that takes place within each of these Kane plays.

莎拉肯恩《4.48精神異常》以破曉時分為題，描寫一名憂鬱成疾的女性於凌晨甦醒並決定以自殺終結生命的關鍵時刻。劇中呈現精神病患者承受心理治療之苦與面對社會正常化(social normalization)的暴力過程。肯恩早期的劇作強調具體暴力之呈現，有別於此，本劇大量使用影像，並以不連續的片段，文本化(textualize)社會的暴力壓迫。根據亞陶的殘酷劇場(Theatre of Cruelty)，片段式語言搭配影像的使用，能有效幫助個體表達難以言喻之想法與被壓抑之情感。本論文旨在借用亞氏語言觀探討肯恩《4.48精神異常》中詩意語言的使用。肯恩以片段式結構(fragmentary structure)取代角色與情節，傳達精神病患者不見容於社會的破碎思緒，並在病患的語言中採用拼貼式影像(collaged images)，企圖以視覺意象呈現其殘破不堪的心理狀態。本論文分成四章，分析《4.48精神異常》中的語言，將其視為肯恩對社會正常化所展現最終極抗議。首章說明肯恩生平、本劇簡介與評論及本論文理論架構。次章分析本劇的片段式結構，研究肯恩如何使用片段式的詩意文字描繪病人的孤立無援與自相矛盾等心理不適現象。第三章檢視本劇中視覺化(visual)與文字化(textual)的影像，其主要功能為幫助病人表述自我內心痛苦與對社會的控訴。論文末章總結指出亞氏觀點能幫助讀者解讀肯恩暴力劇場中的詩意語言。 / Titled with a crucial moment when a depressed woman awakes before dawn and decides to commit suicide, Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis presents the violent process of a psychotic patient suffering from psychiatric therapy and social normalization. Unlike Kane’s early plays that emphasize the presentation of physical violence, this play is characterized by an excessive use of images and is composed of discontinuous fragments that textualize the violent oppression from society. From Artaud’s theory of Theatre of Cruelty, the use of fragmentary language with images helps to convey one’s inexplicable thoughts and suppressed emotions. Artaud’s view on language sheds new light on the interpretation of Kane’s poetic language in 4.48 Psychosis. Without an explicit indication of characters and plot, Kane uses a fragmentary structure to narrate the patient’s broken thoughts, which are not allowed to be voiced in a normal society. Deprived of the ability of voicing, the psychotic patient strives to communicate with others by incorporating collaged images in her language to visualize the devastated state of her psychological mind. Consisting of four chapters, this thesis examines the language of 4.48 Psychosis and interprets this play as Kane’s ultimate form of protest against the violence of social normalization. Chapter One is an introduction to Kane’s life, the play, the critical opinions, and the theoretical framework. Chapter Two analyzes the fragmentary structure of this play and studies how Kane uses poetic fragments to illustrate the patient’s alienation, psychological discomfort, and self-contradiction. Chapter Three examines the visual and textual images of this play. Both kinds of images assist the patient in her narration of psychological pain and her accusation against society. Chapter Four is the conclusion of the thesis that sums up the Artaudian approach of interpreting Kane’s poetic language in her theatre of violence.

Ce mémoire-création comporte deux parties: une partie « création » et une partie « théorique ». La partie création consiste en l'écriture d'un poème dramatique qui porte le titre de Toxi©que. Ce texte se veut une exploration des nouvelles écritures dramatiques où la parole est action. L'analyse réflexive qui constitue la partie théorique de ce mémoire-création contient trois chapitres et sert à explorer les potentialités du poème dramatique au niveau littéraire, poétique et dramatique. Le premier chapitre sert à définir le poème dramatique dans le contexte de la crise du drame moderne. Le deuxième chapitre présente une analyse dramaturgique des trois poèmes dramatiques suivant: Axël de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, Par les Villages de Peter Handke et 4.48 Psychose de Sarah Kane. Le troisième et dernier chapitre met en relation notre création Toxi©que avec le poème dramatique contemporain. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Poème dramatique, Auteur rhapsode, Choralité, Crise du drame.

This thesis presents a close analysis of one of the ageless discourses of human life &ndash / apocalypse, or the End &ndash / within the highly controversial In-Yer-Face drama of the 1990s British stage. The study particularly argues that there is a strong apocalyptic sense in the plays of the decade, and it discovers that the apocalyptic representation within these plays varies. Five plays by three prominent playwrights of the decade are used to illustrate and expand the focus. After a detailed examination of the apocalyptic discourse, it is claimed that Mark Ravenhill&rsquo / s Shopping and F***ing and Faust is Dead are based on certain philosophical ideas of the End, Anthony Neilson&rsquo / s Normal and Penetrator reveal the apocalyptic through an extreme use of violence, and Sarah Kane&rsquo / s 4.48 Psychosis comingles representations of the apocalyptic and psychological trauma.