Using a sociolinguistic and post-colonial approach, I analyze Irish dramas that speak about language and its connection to national identity. In order to provide a systematic and wide-ranging study, I have selected plays written at approximately fifty-year intervals and performed before Irish audiences contemporary to their writing. The writers selected represent various aspects of Irish society--religiously, economically, and geographically--and arguably may be considered the outstanding theatrical Irish voices of their respective generations. Examining works by Alicia LeFanu, Dion Boucicault, W.B. Yeats, and Brian Friel, I argue that the way each of these playwrights deals with language and identity demonstrates successful resistance to the destruction of Irish identity by the dominant language power. The work of J. A. Laponce and Ronald Wardhaugh informs my language dominance theory. Briefly, when one language pushes aside another language, the cultural identity begins to shift. The literature of a nation provides evidence of the shifting perception. Drama, because of its performance qualities, provides the most complex and complete literary evidence. The effect of the performed text upon the audience validates a cultural reception beyond what would be possible with isolated readers. Following a theoretical introduction, I analyze the plays in chronological order. Alicia LeFanu's The Sons of Erin; or, Modern Sentiment (1812) gently pleads for equal treatment in a united Britain. Dion Boucicault's three Irish plays, especially The Colleen Bawn (1860) but also Arrah-na-Pogue (1864) and The Shaughraun (1875), satirically conceal rebellious nationalist tendencies under the cloak of melodrama. W. B. Yeats's The Countess Cathleen (1899) reveals his romantic hope for healing the national identity through the powers of language. However, The Only Jealousy of Emer (1919) and The Death of Cuchulain (1939) reveal an increasing distrust of language to mythically heal Ireland. Brian Friel's Translations (1980), supported by The Communication Cord (1982) and Making History (1988), demonstrates a post-colonial move to manipulate history in order to tell the Irish side of a British story, constructing in the process an Irish identity that is postnational.

Text in English / Although initially dismissed as superficial, Harold Pinter’s Betrayal, Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, and Patrick Marber’s Closer use the theme of marital betrayal as a trope to investigate metatheatrical and epistemological issues. This study aims to demonstrate how these three plays define and explore the concept of authenticity within the fictional as well as the actual world; how arbitrary the construction and mediation of the characters’ identities are, not only from their own perspective, but also from the audience’s; the significance of the audience’s role in these plays and how issues of authenticity, fictionality and dishonesty impact on a genre that depends on illusion. This study intends to provide a new interpretation of these three texts through an analysis drawn from postmodern and poststructuralist theories, concerning the concept of authenticity within art and language. This study finds that the fictional worlds in these plays are created through mediation, which includes everyday language as well as complex works of art. Authenticity is shown to be an elusive concept. Language is either unsuccessfully used to force authentic responses from characters, or as a shield. In Betrayal, language functions as a protective barrier, preventing the characters from knowing one another. The Real Thing suggests that although inauthenticity may be established, the inverse is not necessarily true. In Closer, the characters try in vain to access authenticity through different registers of language. Furthermore, neither the body nor the mind is shown to be the locus of authenticity in Closer. Within the postmodern context where originality is impossible, mimicry is not seen as something external and inauthentic, but as inextricably part of human existence. The audience is drawn into the fictional world of these plays as its members are able to identify with the disillusionment of the characters and their inability to form a definitive view of each other. Simultaneously, the audience is ousted from the fictional world by being reminded of the author’s presence through metatheatrical devices. These plays take advantage of the fictional status of theatre to explore issues of authenticity, positioning them in direct opposition to postdramatic and verbatim plays. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Theory of Literature)

在中國現代文學中，文藝與政治之間有著密切而複雜的關係，此一問題在現代戲劇中尤其值得重視。過往戲劇研究長期位處邊緣，這與戲劇此一文類所獨具的綜合藝術特質不無關係，其橫跨文學、美術、音樂、表演等領域的跨藝術特徵，導致其複雜性實際上遠超純文學的範疇。另一方面，戲劇運動的集團性和政治性，亦導致論者對於中國現代戲劇發展較為簡單化的論述，戲劇史的書寫往往與時代話語緊密連繫。不論是純粹文藝化還是政治化的角度，皆很可能遮蔽了戲劇本身一體兩面的問題，導致研究單一化和簡單化。洪深 (1894-1955)、田漢 (1898-1968)和夏衍 (1900-1995)均是中國現代重要戲劇家，同時亦長期被定位為左翼文藝陣營中的重要成員。戲劇家和政治家的身分重疊，導致他們的研究情況往往與時代的意識形態掛鈎，而目前有關他們的研究更是受到冷落，與他們的文學成就並不相稱。本文以三位劇作家為研究對象，希望通過他們的不同面向，重新審視文藝與政治之間各種複雜關係的可能性。 / 本文分為五章。第一章為導論，主要介紹本文的寫作理念、方法和背景。第二章以洪深為研究對象，重新探討他的現實主義戲劇創作和主張。洪深對改譯劇的主張和實踐，體現了他與晚清鴛鴦蝴蝶派文學和西方戲劇的深刻淵源，而他和蕭伯納之間的文學關係，反映了他對早期文明戲的戲劇改革和西方舞台的繼承，突顯了洪深如何在中西文化之間思索中國現代戲劇中的現實主義問題。第三章從西方唯美主義和先鋒文學運動的角度，重新探討田漢的創作和政治轉向。本章考察田漢對外國文學的譯介活動，當中包括英國唯美主義作家威廉．莫里斯、德國表現主義影劇、俄國和日本左翼劇場，反映了田漢戲劇運動的左翼國際主義特徵；然而田漢對日本作家佐藤春夫和谷崎潤一郎的翻譯，則體現了他對唯美主義的回歸。第四章以夏衍的戲劇創作為研究對象，重新探討夏衍的戲劇文學的獨特性。本章把夏衍此時期的劇作分為歷史劇和上海都市劇兩個角度作出分析，並將它們放在當時文學場域中與郭沫若的歷史劇、國防文學、現代派小說和左翼電影作一比較，並分析夏衍的現實主義與左翼現實主義的相異。第五章為結論，綜合前文各章的討論，重新思考三位劇作家的戲劇實踐，並重審中國現代戲劇中文藝與政治之間的複雜關係。 / There is a complicated relationship between literature and politics in modern Chinese literature, especially in modern Chinese drama. As a result, the research of modern Chinese drama has long been placed at a marginal position. Drama is an integrated artistic form consisting of literature, art, music, and performance, and therefore presents a complexity that goes far beyond "pure literature". On the other hand, the history of modern Chinese drama is closely integrated with historical discourse as a result of the organizational and political characteristics of drama movements. This shows that either literary or political point of view may confine the interpretation of their inter-related complexity and interaction. Hong Shen (1894-1955), Tian Han (1898-1968) and Xia Yan (1900-1995) are three of the most important dramatists in modern Chinese literature, who were also regarded as representative members in the left-wing literary camp. Due to their dual identities as dramatist and politician, their images are often connected with historical and ideological discourses. This has also resulted in desolation in their researches, which is not commensurate with their literary achievements. This dissertation, therefore, focuses on the three dramatists by presenting different perspectives of their works and activities, with the aim to explore the possibilities of various relations between literature and politics. / There are five chapters in the dissertation. Chapter one introduces the framework, method and background of the research. Chapter two re-examines the realistic works and theories of Hong Shen. Hong’s adaptation reflects his literary relationship with both the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies literature and the Western drama. Moreover, Hong’s literary relationship with Bernard Shaw reflects his succession of both the tradition of the civilized drama and the Western theatre. This highlights that the characteristics of Hong Shen’s realistic theories were adapted from both China and the West. Chapter three re-explores the political transformation of Tian Han from the Western literary movements of aestheticism and the avant-garde. This chapter demonstrates the characteristics of left-wing cosmopolitanism in Tian Han’s drama movements by studying his translation activities of international literature, which include the English poet William Morris, German expressionist cinema and theatre, Russian and Japanese left-wing theatre. In the meantime, Tian Han’s translations of Japanese writers Sato Haruo and Tanizaki Junichiro reflect his return to aestheticism. Chapter four discusses the uniqueness of Xia Yan’s literary works, including his historical drama and his modern drama centering on Shanghai. This chapter emphasizes the difference of Xia Yan’s realistic style from left-wing realism by comparing Xia’s works with National Defence Literature, modernist fictions, left-wing cinema, as well as the historical drama by Guo Moruo. Chapter five concludes the significance of the dramatic transformation by Hong Shen, Tian Han and Xia Yan, and reviews the relationship between literature and politics in modern China. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / 盧敏芝. / Parallel title from added title page. / Thesis (Ph.D.) Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-157). / Abstracts also in English. / Lu Minzhi.

The family trilogy, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child and True West, presents Sam Shepard's strong bond with his culture and his people, illustrates an intense connection with the land, and reveals a deep longing for the traditions of the past, through the dramatisation of the betrayal of the American Dream. Although obviously part of the American tradition of family drama, Shepard never completely conforms, subverting the genre by debunking the traditional family in order to make a statement about the present disintegration of the bonds of family life and modern American society. In the trilogy Shepard decries the loss of the old codes connecting with his despair at the debasement of the ideals of the past and the demise of the American Dream. Finally, the plays insist on the importance a new set of tenets to supplant the sterile ethics of modern America / M.A. (English)

The family trilogy, Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child and True West, presents Sam Shepard's strong bond with his culture and his people, illustrates an intense connection with the land, and reveals a deep longing for the traditions of the past, through the dramatisation of the betrayal of the American Dream. Although obviously part of the American tradition of family drama, Shepard never completely conforms, subverting the genre by debunking the traditional family in order to make a statement about the present disintegration of the bonds of family life and modern American society. In the trilogy Shepard decries the loss of the old codes connecting with his despair at the debasement of the ideals of the past and the demise of the American Dream. Finally, the plays insist on the importance a new set of tenets to supplant the sterile ethics of modern America / M.A. (English)

The central problem in this dissertation entails how the concept volksmoeder (mother of the nation) gradually developed to secure a place in the Afrikaans drama. Chapter 1 determines the hypothesis of this dissertation. Chapter 2 focusses on the volksmoeder characteristics. The conclusion reached in Chapter 2 is that Maria in Langenhoven’s Die vrou van Suid-Afrika (1918) reveals similarities and contrasts with female characters in Dutch plays. Chapter 3 ascertains that characteristics of female personages as mothers of the nation determine their positions in patriarch/volksmoeder relationships in W.A. de Klerk’s Die jaar van die vuur-os (1952). Different types of volksmoeder appear in the above-mentioned farm play and in H.A. Fagan’s Ousus (1934). Chapters 4 and 5 identify how the present day volksmoeder in recent plaasdramas such as Deon Opperman’s Donkerland (1996), André P. Brink’s Die jogger (1997), Ek, Anna van Wyk (1986) and Die koggelaar (1988) by Pieter Fourie, indicate a further development in the concepts patriarch and volksmoeder. In the latter’s Koggelmanderman (2003) the man and woman are removed from the idea of gender. / Die sentrale probleem in die verhandeling behels hoe die konsep volksmoeder met verloop van tyd in die Afrikaanse drama neerslag gevind het. Hoofstuk 1 bepaal die hipoteses van die verhandeling. Hoofstuk 2 fokus op die kenmerke van die volksmoeder. Die gevolgtrekking in hoofstuk 2 is dat Maria in Langenhoven se Die vrou van Suid-Afrika (1918) ooreenstem en kontrasteer met Nederlandse vrouefigure. Hoofstuk 3 stel vas dat vrouefigure se kenmerke as volksmoeders hul posisie binne die patriarg/volksmoederverhouding in W.A. de Klerk se Die jaar van die vuur-os (1952) bepaal. Verskillende soorte volksmoeder -verskyn in bogenoemde plaasdrama en in H.A. Fagan se Ousus (1934). Hoofstukke 4 en 5 identifiseer hoe hedendaagse volksmoeders in nuwe plaasdramas, soos Deon Opperman se Donkerland (1996), Andre P. Brink se Die jogger (1997), Ek, Anna van Wyk (1986) en Die koggelaar (1988) van Pieter Fourie, verder binne die patriarg/volksmoederverhouding ontwikkel. In laasgenoemde se Koggelmanderman (2003) beweeg die man en vrou weg van die konsepte patriarg en volksmoeder. / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)

The central problem in this dissertation entails how the concept volksmoeder (mother of the nation) gradually developed to secure a place in the Afrikaans drama. Chapter 1 determines the hypothesis of this dissertation. Chapter 2 focusses on the volksmoeder characteristics. The conclusion reached in Chapter 2 is that Maria in Langenhoven’s Die vrou van Suid-Afrika (1918) reveals similarities and contrasts with female characters in Dutch plays. Chapter 3 ascertains that characteristics of female personages as mothers of the nation determine their positions in patriarch/volksmoeder relationships in W.A. de Klerk’s Die jaar van die vuur-os (1952). Different types of volksmoeder appear in the above-mentioned farm play and in H.A. Fagan’s Ousus (1934). Chapters 4 and 5 identify how the present day volksmoeder in recent plaasdramas such as Deon Opperman’s Donkerland (1996), André P. Brink’s Die jogger (1997), Ek, Anna van Wyk (1986) and Die koggelaar (1988) by Pieter Fourie, indicate a further development in the concepts patriarch and volksmoeder. In the latter’s Koggelmanderman (2003) the man and woman are removed from the idea of gender. / Die sentrale probleem in die verhandeling behels hoe die konsep volksmoeder met verloop van tyd in die Afrikaanse drama neerslag gevind het. Hoofstuk 1 bepaal die hipoteses van die verhandeling. Hoofstuk 2 fokus op die kenmerke van die volksmoeder. Die gevolgtrekking in hoofstuk 2 is dat Maria in Langenhoven se Die vrou van Suid-Afrika (1918) ooreenstem en kontrasteer met Nederlandse vrouefigure. Hoofstuk 3 stel vas dat vrouefigure se kenmerke as volksmoeders hul posisie binne die patriarg/volksmoederverhouding in W.A. de Klerk se Die jaar van die vuur-os (1952) bepaal. Verskillende soorte volksmoeder -verskyn in bogenoemde plaasdrama en in H.A. Fagan se Ousus (1934). Hoofstukke 4 en 5 identifiseer hoe hedendaagse volksmoeders in nuwe plaasdramas, soos Deon Opperman se Donkerland (1996), Andre P. Brink se Die jogger (1997), Ek, Anna van Wyk (1986) en Die koggelaar (1988) van Pieter Fourie, verder binne die patriarg/volksmoederverhouding ontwikkel. In laasgenoemde se Koggelmanderman (2003) beweeg die man en vrou weg van die konsepte patriarg en volksmoeder. / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / M.A. (Afrikaans)