Diss--Kiel--Univ., 1992. / Bibliogr. p. 211-229.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2005. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 32 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 32).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Akademisk avhandling--Humanistiska fakulteten--Åbo, 1993. / Bibliogr. p. 218-233.

David Mamet is best known as a playwright, but he also has a thriving film career, both as screenwriter and as director. He has taken very seriously each of these roles, formulating theories that, he suggests, account for the creative choices he makes. Though Mamet sometimes contradicts himself, as when he suggests that viewers should have the satisfaction of constructing their own meaning of a work, but at the same time is devoted to montage, which works by juxtaposing images that lead to a single interpretation, he clearly sees the story as a critical avenue into the spectator's unconscious, where he hopes it will resonate with a truth that speaks directly to the individual. His films House of Games, Things Change, and Homicide clearly reflect his ideas on the best ways of conveying a story on film. In House of Games, Mamet draws on Bruno Bettelheim's theories to construct a fairy tale designed to act on adult viewers in the same way that fairy tales act on the child. In Things Change, he creates a fable that explores issues of friendship and honor within the milieu of the gangster genre. And in Homicide, Mamet uses the expectations viewers bring to the theatre in anticipation of a genre film to explore themes of loyalty and identity. In Oleanna, however, Mamet relies heavily on exposition and dialogue, rather than the visual elements that separate the film from drama, which renders the film the antithesis of his long-held philosophy of film narrative. Mamet's best film work, in House of Games and Homicide, has been innovative and thought-provoking, bringing depth to the new noir and redefining the cop film. His work in Oleanna, though it may prove to be an anomaly, may suggest a surrender of his principles of filmmaking or a reformulation of them to fit some new vision.

Although David Mamet is one of the most frequently studied of the postmodern American playwrights, scholarly criticism has neglected to examine the dynamic that is unique to his two-person plays, or duologues. This study explores various aspects of that duologic dynamic, concentrating on two of Mamet's two-person plays, A Life in the Theatre and Oleanna. The relationships in both plays are sustained by the characters' desire for power. As is typical of a Mametian play, power is obtained through language and dialogue. The fact that there are two characters in each of the plays serves to intensify the conflict and to remind the audience of the binary nature inherent in drama. / Department of English

Abstract The purpose of this study is to create a believable, multiple dimension character portrayal of Jack Lawson in David Mamet’s Race. Documentation of the process will include: an explanation of the acting technique and analysis used to create the backstory and portrayal of the character; insight into the background and beliefs of playwright, David Mamet; and a personal review of my growth and performance.

Uppsatsen utgår från frågan hur David Mamets pjäs Oleanna kunde tolkas så radikalt annorlunda vid sin  svenska premiär på Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern 1994 jämfört med vid sin urpremiär i New York ett drygt år tidigare. I USA uppfattades Oleanna allmänt som en varning för hämndlysten feminism och för faran med överdriven politisk korrekthet, och debatten kom att gälla huruvida denna varning var befogad eller bara reaktionär och dum. I Sverige sågs den tvärtom som en kritisk genomlysning av patriarkala strukturer. Uppsatsen söker svaret i en kombination av inom- och utomtextuella faktorer och innehåller därför både en receptionsanalytisk del och en närläsning av dramat. I receptionsanalysen jämförs pjäsens mottagande i USA och Sverige och sätts i relation till respektive samhälles offentliga samtal om feminism och identitetspolitik. Närläsningen fokuserar på Oleannas sällsynta förmåga att understödja motstridiga tolkningar. Denna analyseras med stöd av Torsten Petterssons teori om det litterära verkets böjlighet.

No description available.

Esta dissertação propõe analisar os diálogos da peça Glengarry Glen Ross, de David Mamet, um dos principais dramaturgos do teatro norte-americano contemporâneo. A hipótese sugerida é que esses diálogos substituem a ação dramática e representam o substrato social que serviu de ponto de referência para a criação do enredo. São neles que as \"relações venais\" e o jogo de poder entre os personagens se concretizam, numa linguagem ilusória e ambígua, na qual valores individuais e comunitários, como a confiança, a amizade, a afeição, a lealdade e a verdade se subverteram, diante da necessidade de sobrevivência ou do sucesso a qualquer preço, ditados pelas práticas comerciais, pelas relações de poder, por uma mentalidade de negócios predatória e se transformaram em mercadoria, lucro e roubo. Glengarry Glen Ross (1983) faz parte da chamada \"trilogia do poder\", que abarca ainda American Buffalo (1975) e Speed-the-Plow (1985). As personagens dessas peças ou vivem à margem da sociedade capitalista norteamericana, como o triângulo masculino em American Buffalo, ou são representantes da baixa classe média, como os corretores de imóveis de Glengary Glen Ross, submetidos a uma competição feroz imposta pela direção da firma, onde os vencedores são promovidos e os perdedores, demitidos. Nessas circunstâncias, o contato humano entre eles foi corrompido pela ganância, pelo dinheiro, pela necessidade de sobrevivência. Essas peças são um exercício de crítica ao darwinismo social. / This dissertation aims to analyze the speeches in Glengarry Glen Ross, a play by David Mamet, one of the leading playwrights of the contemporary American theatre. The hypotheses suggested are that these speeches replace the dramatic action and that they represent the social stratum which has served as reference point for the creation of the plot. They also make the \'venal relations\' and the power game between the characters concrete, but they do so through the use of a deceptive and ambiguous language, in which individual and communal values, such as trust, friendship, affection, loyalty and truth, are subverted, in face of the need for survival or success at any cost, determined by commercial practices, power relations, predatory business mindset, and are turned into commodities, profit and theft. Glengarry Glen Ross (1983) is part of the \"power trilogy\", which also comprises American Buffalo (1975) and Speed-the-Plow (1985). The characters in these plays either live on the margins of the American capitalist society, as the ones in the masculine triangle in American Buffalo, or are representatives of the lowermiddle- class, such as the realtors in Glengarry Glen Ross, subjected to a cutthroat competition by the corporation owners, in which the winners are promoted and the losers are fired. In these circumstances, genuine human contact among them is corrupted by greed, money, and the need for survival. These plays are an exercise of criticism of social Darwinism.