Thesis Abstract The thesis aims to explore how Mark Ravenhill's plays engage with postmodern themes and techniques, while tracking the development of associated experimental tendencies. This development cannot be accurately perceived chronologically, therefore what the thesis does instead is to group connected phenomena thematically, while making sure to stress the gradation that is perceptible over the course of Ravenhill's career. To achieve such a goal, several plays have been selected and arranged based on their focus and the level of experimentation present within them. The plays of principal importance are: Shopping and Fucking (1996), Some Explicit Polaroids (1999), Faust (Faust Is Dead) (1997), Handbag (1998), Mother Clap's Molly House (2001), Product (2005), Pool (No Water) (2006) and The Experiment (2010). The first three listed plays are not formally experimental themselves, yet they instead provide a sound theoretical background for the close reading of the remaining plays. This includes especially Ravenhill's treatment of the concept of postmodernity and its social impact. The analysis of the other, generally younger plays pursues the practical application of the insight gained in the introductory plays. Hence, what is theoretically implied at first is applied not only thematically, but...

Nesta dissertação, busca-se analisar os elementos dramatúrgicos constituintes da polêmica peça Shopping and Fucking (1996), do dramaturgo britânico Mark Ravenhill, relacionando suas características de forma e conteúdo e seus decorrentes imbricamentos. O ponto de partida dessa empreitada encontra-se não somente em obras teóricas importantes da crítica de literatura, teatro e cultura de autoria de Peter Szondi, Anatol Rosenfeld, Roberto Schwarz e Fredric Jameson, mas também nas de autores mais estreitamente vinculados às ciências econômicas e à crítica do sistema mundial como Ernst Mandel e Robert Kurz. Podemos, por meio dessa análise, concluir que Ravenhill é capaz de retratar por meio da configuração da peça aspectos simultaneamente relacionados tanto à subjetividade quanto à sociedade contemporâneas ambas em estado de crise permanente. Na primeira parte da dissertação, procura-se introduzir historicamente a peça, o teatro In-yer-face e o período Thatcher. Na segunda parte, destacam-se principalmente os temas presentes abordados em relação à forma. Na terceira, há uma predominância da análise formal e observa-se a presença de elementos épicos que, algumas vezes desvirtuados, desestruturam a forma puramente dramática. Constatação essa que, segundo levantamento bibliográfico realizado, ainda não havia sido defendida por críticos que se debruçaram sobre a obra desse dramaturgo. E, na quarta parte, nas considerações finais, procura-se entender a forma e a sua respectiva correspondência com o contexto sócio-histórico segundo as considerações analíticas levantadas nos capítulos anteriores. / In this dissertation, our goal is to analyze the theatrical elements that constitute the controversial play Shopping and Fucking (1996), by the British playwright Mark Ravenhill, relating its characteristics of form and content and their resulting intersections. The focus lies not only on the important theoretical works of literature, theatre and culture critique by Peter Szondi, Anatol Rosenfeld, Roberto Schwarz and Fredric Jameson, but also on those of authors more closely tied to economics and world system critics such as Ernst Mandel and Robert Kurz. The analysis concludes that Ravenhill simultaneously relates aspects of subjectivity and the contemporary society both in a state of permanent crisis. The first part of the dissertation introduces the play, the In-yer-face theatre and the Thatcher period. The second part emphasizes the themes presented addressed in relation to the form. The third part stresses the predominance of formal analysis, in which epic elements, somewhat garbled, deconstruct the dramatical form. Nevertheless, according to bibliographical research, such an analysis has not been developed, to the present day, by critics familiar with Ravenhill\'s theatrical works. In the concluding chapter an understanding is sought towards the plays form and its correspondences with the socio-historical context following our previous analysis.

Nesta dissertação, busca-se analisar os elementos dramatúrgicos constituintes da polêmica peça Shopping and Fucking (1996), do dramaturgo britânico Mark Ravenhill, relacionando suas características de forma e conteúdo e seus decorrentes imbricamentos. O ponto de partida dessa empreitada encontra-se não somente em obras teóricas importantes da crítica de literatura, teatro e cultura de autoria de Peter Szondi, Anatol Rosenfeld, Roberto Schwarz e Fredric Jameson, mas também nas de autores mais estreitamente vinculados às ciências econômicas e à crítica do sistema mundial como Ernst Mandel e Robert Kurz. Podemos, por meio dessa análise, concluir que Ravenhill é capaz de retratar por meio da configuração da peça aspectos simultaneamente relacionados tanto à subjetividade quanto à sociedade contemporâneas ambas em estado de crise permanente. Na primeira parte da dissertação, procura-se introduzir historicamente a peça, o teatro In-yer-face e o período Thatcher. Na segunda parte, destacam-se principalmente os temas presentes abordados em relação à forma. Na terceira, há uma predominância da análise formal e observa-se a presença de elementos épicos que, algumas vezes desvirtuados, desestruturam a forma puramente dramática. Constatação essa que, segundo levantamento bibliográfico realizado, ainda não havia sido defendida por críticos que se debruçaram sobre a obra desse dramaturgo. E, na quarta parte, nas considerações finais, procura-se entender a forma e a sua respectiva correspondência com o contexto sócio-histórico segundo as considerações analíticas levantadas nos capítulos anteriores. / In this dissertation, our goal is to analyze the theatrical elements that constitute the controversial play Shopping and Fucking (1996), by the British playwright Mark Ravenhill, relating its characteristics of form and content and their resulting intersections. The focus lies not only on the important theoretical works of literature, theatre and culture critique by Peter Szondi, Anatol Rosenfeld, Roberto Schwarz and Fredric Jameson, but also on those of authors more closely tied to economics and world system critics such as Ernst Mandel and Robert Kurz. The analysis concludes that Ravenhill simultaneously relates aspects of subjectivity and the contemporary society both in a state of permanent crisis. The first part of the dissertation introduces the play, the In-yer-face theatre and the Thatcher period. The second part emphasizes the themes presented addressed in relation to the form. The third part stresses the predominance of formal analysis, in which epic elements, somewhat garbled, deconstruct the dramatical form. Nevertheless, according to bibliographical research, such an analysis has not been developed, to the present day, by critics familiar with Ravenhill\'s theatrical works. In the concluding chapter an understanding is sought towards the plays form and its correspondences with the socio-historical context following our previous analysis.

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.

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The gay male emerged as a visible public consumer during 1990s, when the LGBTQ movement in the United Kingdom and the United States was marked by conflicting commercial and political motives, heightened by the AIDS crisis. The cultural tension surrounding the gay male subject was reflected through various literary expressions. In the United Kingdom Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking (1996), as part of the in-yer-face theatre, exploded in the face of the bourgeoisie. In the US America Dennis Cooper’s highly publicised George Miles Cycle (1989-2000), was followed by The Sluts (2004) as part of the transgressive literature, provoking both straight and gay communities. Through an analysis of themes such as capitalism, commerce, hyperreality, internalised fear, desire, and violence in the works, an alternative image of the gay male is distinguished. This is an image of the gay male subject that is complex, multi-faceted, contradictory and polyvalent. The characters relate differently to the hegemonic hyperreal role model, but are exposed to the same social structure that dictates their living conditions and positioning them as objects possible to practice violence on. The works provide a widened and complicated image the public image of the gay male. Their countercultural narratives trace how the gay male subject have been affected by the heteronormative society. When the provided stereotype is too narrow to express the burden and the joy of the contemporary gay male subject, alternatives, like the depictions by Ravenhill and Cooper, may allow the subject to fully possess the gay experiences of pain, sorrow and anger that he has been forced to bear. This research explores how the violence within the texts holds a liberating potential.