Folorunso, Babafemi

2018-01-31T11:43:48Z

2018-01-31T11:43:48Z

2001

The thesis is an examination of the connection between politics, culture and the contemporary practice of theatre in Scotland. It looks at Scottish history in the context of the nation's incorporation into the British Union and results in dramatic texts and performances. The reason for this is because Scotland presents an unusual picture of a postcolonial cultural space. The study uses the combination of postcolonial, cultural and performance theories to investigate this connection. Chapter One is devoted to the cultural sociology of Scotland. It examines the political and social contexts of the national culture, its components and how the interaction between politics and culture occurs. The chapter concludes by pointing out that this interaction frames the postcolonial framework of the country.

Chapter Two examines how the remaking of cultural identity in Scotland is carried out within the postcolonial framework, and how this is reflected in the spheres of representation. The chapter proposes two models of identity conceptualisation; addresses the centrality of language and the roles it plays in the cultural remaking of the subjective national-self. The chapter also examines the nature and character of theatrical practice in Scotland, and concludes that while its activities occur within a postcolonial framework, Scottish theatre fits into the paradigm of a national-popular theatre. This chapter uses dramatic and performance theories to define popular theatre, its conceptual boundaries and functions.

Chapter Three analyses four play texts, which are deemed to portray some aspects of the contingent origin of Scotland's postcolonial identity. These are plays modelled on history. The chapter later addresses the issue of genre, which is raised implicitly by the analysed plays. It concludes that in the wake of the performance of postcolonial subjectivity, postcolonial theatre usually breaks the genre barrier.

Chapter Four continues the analysis of texts. A text that addresses the composite character of Scottish postcoloniality is examined. The thesis contests the attempts by the text to resituate the meaning of the 'composite' as a subject of class analysis. As a result of that attempt, there were tensions generated in the 'reception' of the performance of the text. The chapter concludes by stressing that the tension illustrates the character of postcolonial embodiment in performances.

Chapter Five addresses another set of texts. These are the realist plays. The chapter looks at the meaning and practice of realism in the Scottish contexts. The chapter justifies realism as enabling a representation of national subjectivity from a perspective that other forms of theatre would have made less visible.

The conclusion summarises the theoretical questions of the thesis. The thesis concludes by pointing out that theatre is one of the areas of representation where it is frequently shown that Scotland is a postcolonial cultural space.

http://hdl.handle.net/1842/28030

The University of Edinburgh

Annexe Thesis Digitisation Project 2017 Block 16

Already catalogued

No place to hide: contemporary Scottish theatre and postcoloniality

Thesis or Dissertation

PhD Doctor of Philosophy