What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States? In the simplest of terms,
citizenship is a limited position of identity, relegated to a narrow definition of legal and
geographical position for an individual. But to be a citizen in America means far more than that it becomes an accepted image of our collective identity which seeks an historical and political supremacy that allows America, and its citizens, to claim ideological status over anyone who is not a part of that nationalistic frame. The citizen has, for us, become a set of understood rights and privileges, inexorably connected to a further set of duties and responsibilities that we must perform in exchange for those rights.
This study seeks to examine the ways in which theatre has contributed to the creation of, reinforcement of, and subversion of a dominant ideological view of Americans citizens. The evolution of our concept of citizenship is explored, from its origins in Greek philosophy to twentieth-century expansions of who is and who is not considered to be a citizen. Theatrical movements and productions from differing eras are examined to reveal how each of these reacted to their historical contexts in presenting the image of the citizen on stage and screen, and how our understanding of who we are, as Americans, becomes so engrained in all aspects of society that even theatrical attempts to challenge or subvert this ideology become entangled in calls for the very same rights and privileges. Ultimately, this work challenges theatre to eradicate our stubborn and subconscious adherence to what we perceive as our fundamental rights, and to create images of the citizen which are more holistic in relationship to the world around us.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-10252006-144137 |
| Date | 26 October 2006 |
| Creators | Wright, John William |
| Contributors | Wayne Parent, Michael Tick, Leslie A. Wade, Leigh Ann Clemons, Emily Erickson |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-10252006-144137/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein 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 LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, 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. |
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