Return to search

Themes of isolation in Saskatchewan radio drama

ABSTRACT
Powerful themes of physical and emotional isolation are found in the Saskatchewan radio plays stored in the CBC files of the Saskatchewan Archives Recorded Sound Collection. Based on the examination of a selection of these plays in their audio format, this thesis will explore themes of isolation and how they are developed in contemporary Saskatchewan radio drama as organized into the following three categories: Timescape, Landscape, and Bodyscape. The Timescape chapter deals with themes of isolation and history plays. The Landscape chapter explores isolation and landscape within three radio plays by James Quandt. The Bodyscape chapter is dedicated to plays with themes of isolation, health, and healthcare. It also highlights the abundance of playwriting by women on healthcare topics. In doing so, the thesis addresses two larger questions: 1. To what extent are themes of isolation and the struggle to relieve it developed by Saskatchewan playwrights on the radio? And 2. If the most acute geographic and demographic isolation experienced by Saskatchewan residents was historic, i.e. during the history of European settlement, why are there still strong thematic currents of isolation appearing throughout Saskatchewan radio plays written after 1980? The development of themes of isolation in this selection of plays often reinforces the value of community and the dangers of isolation. The critical framework of the thesis relies most heavily on the thoughts of Northrop Frye, Margaret Atwood, Kelley Jo Burke, and Carol Gilligan. Most of the plays discussed were produced during the period between 1978-1988. These were the first ten years of local, full time radio drama production at CBC Saskatchewan in Regina. An annotated bibliography of the plays studied en route to this thesis follows the text.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-10292005-103003
Date31 October 2005
CreatorsMcWilliams, Ian
ContributorsWaiser, William A., Kerr, Donald C., Haig Bartley, Pamela, Denham, W. Paul, Day, Moira, Brenna, Dwayne
PublisherUniversity of Saskatchewan
Source SetsUniversity of Saskatchewan Library
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-10292005-103003/
Rightsunrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Page generated in 0.0026 seconds