Posthumanism
Posthumanism approaches people with heavy skepticism and attempts to
renavigate and redefine people’s place in modern society which is altered and
shaped according to technological advancements. Simply put, posthumanism tries
to reconceive humans. Ferrendo argues that “In order to conceive a
posthumanist approach, it is first necessary to reflect on the meaning of the
notion of the human, both by investigating on the technologies of the self
historically developed by the human “others”(p.4). Ferrendo’s contemplation
on posthumanism and humanism exhibits that posthumanism is an attempt to unveil
the possibility of an idea beyond humanism. This however does not necessarily
debunk humanism; it opens a new window to analyze and peruse the sociological
and psychological place of human consciousness in modern society.
Posthumanism
is heavily influenced by technological and political advances in recent years.
As people become more civilized, they start to adopt the strict structure of
society. To be more precise we as people have become to be more inclined to
follow the rules and norms society has imposed on us. People’s inclination to
follow the rules according to posthumanism is a demonstration of what we are
lacking free-will. Also, considering the overwhelming amount of stimuli in a
modern city, it becomes quite hard to assume that individuals have control over
their environment. Ultimately, posthumanism deals with questions regarding
almost everything that we relate to humanism. To be precise Ferrendo states that
“The posthuman destabilizes the limits and symbolic borders posed by the
notion of the human. Dualisms such as human/animal, human/machine, and, more in
general, human/nonhuman are re-investigated through a perception that does not
work on oppositional schemata. In the same way, the posthuman deconstructs the
clear division between life/death, organic/synthetic, and natural/artificial”
(p.5). Ferrendo’s explanation of what posthumanism deals with, suggests that
posthumanism is a theory to rediscover humanity with a new and sophisticated
perception. The enlightenment and industrial revolution have had an immense
effect on people’s consciousness and how we behave. These timestamps also
allowed people to analyze society in different ways which then allowed posthumanism
to arise.
In theatre, posthumanism allows the
audience to adopt a posthuman perspective whilst analyzing the plays. Holloway
argues that “The posthuman theoretical perspective is that technology is
transforming the human into the posthuman – a being ontologically indiscrete
and hybrid: a human-technology cyborg” (p.139) Holloway’s stance on
posthumanism in theatre suggests that post humanistic approach to theatre
allows the audience and the actors to peruse how people interact with the world.
Ultimately, such an approach can redefine humans through theater. According to
Hayley
“the posthuman view configures human
being so that it can be seamlessly articulated with intelligent machines. In
the posthuman, there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations
between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and
biological organism, robot teleology, and human goals” (p.139).
Holloway’s observation on posthuman
explains that the posthuman view implies that we as people are not different
than highly sophisticated machines. Theatre, therefore, sheds a light on this
point and tries to redefine and rediscover humanity through freeing it from the
arbitrary rules of society. Simply put, it deals with themes such as death,
time, life, free will.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism questions the modernism
movement that arose with industrialization and urbanization, Modernism tried to
understand how to react to such drastic changes. The changes were so drastic
that the sociological structures couldn’t keep up with the technological and
industrial advancements of the time. As a result, modernism took place and
attempted to answer questions regarding life. Postmodernism, however, debunks
the answers modernism found. To put it another way, it deals with themes of
time, death, life, love, drama differently than modernism which tries to find a
rule or system behind everything. Postmodernism does not need rules. To be
precise Connor argues that “Postmodernist work in the theatre has come to
mean work that no longer conforms to assumed definitions of what should happen
in a poem or a play” (p.66). Connor’s statement unveils that postmodern
literary work is hard to put into frames as postmodernism’s nature is to be
free from rules. Ultimately, however, a postmodernist drama may present the
individual’s identity, death, and life differently which then can disrupt the
nation of time of the people creating a surreal impact on the audience who then
can be interactive with the play.
Postfeminism
Postfeminism stands as a middle ground
for anti-feminism and feminism. It mostly deals with how modern culture
objectifies women's bodies and how feminism does wrong by trying to empower
women through their appearance. Gill states that “it appears that
femininity is defined as a bodily property rather than a social, structural or
psychological one” (p.149). Gill’s observation indicates one of the
points postfeminism stands against.
Furthermore, postfeminism is against
sexualizing the image of women. Postfemisinm asserts that sexualizing the image
of women causes women to appear as passive. Postfeminism tries to modernize
such a conventional understanding of women and therefore allows women to
express their sexual desires. In drama, therefore, postfeminism allows women to
not be mute anymore. Gill states that “this shift is crucial to
understanding the postfeminist sensibility. It represents a modernization of
femininity… “ (p.151)
Shaffer’s and Pinter’s Techniques in Drama
Harold Pinter and Peter Shaffer are one of
the most prominent writers who are influenced by postmodernism. They are
notorious for how they depict settings and how they utilize characters, body
language to convey messages. More importantly, they are mostly known for their
controversial understanding of drama. Shaffer and Pinter use theatre to convey
messages, however, their techniques are utterly different from traditional
theatre techniques. To be precise, they use body language, stage, themes, time,
and storytelling in a way that allows them to break the chains of traditional
theatre. Caretaker and Amasedues are one of the prominent plays in which we can
observe their techniques. In this essay, I shall analyze Pinter’s and Shaffer’s
use of theories, ideologies, and strategies and argue that these theories
distinguish them from other playwrights.
In Caretaker some body gestures convey a
message or an indication about the character. To put it another way, Pinter
uses body language to reinforce the power of communication. To be precise, the
use of body language adds a new spectrum to communication. Raby argues that “Body
language contributed extensively to shape further implications to what was
spoken “ (p.127) Raby’s contemplation on body language unveils that
Pinter uses it to draw the audience’s attention to character and what the
character symbolizes Raby continues on body language and suggests that “Aston’s
seemed bony and contorted and they were continually held in positions that drew
attention to their angularities, especially an odd placing of them on the
knees, which intimated much about the character’s past in a mental institution
before he chose to reveal such facts in confidence to Davies” (p.127) Here
we see how small motions can imply coherent and significant messages.
Ultimately, we see that Pinter uses body language so distinctively that it
stands out and transforms into a sort of communication.
Shaffer draws the audience into the play
through his very compulsive narrative. Shaffer creates suspense with his unique
depiction of humanism and his “presentation of complex conflicts”(p.2)To
put it another way, Shaffer alters the image of humans and hence puts forward a
controversial idea of humans which then creates suspense. Kavanagh argues that
“Shaffer is an undisputed master of 'telling tales', forcing the audience
into involvement with his dramas through detective-story suspense, human
identification, and the presentation of complex conflicts” (p.2). In
Kavanagh’s explanation, we see that Shaffer is notorious for his narration
which then explains how he produces such a dramatic and theatrical experience
in his plays. More importantly, Kavanagh argues that “he intends(and
achieves) a balance between mental attentiveness and emotional engagement, this
giving rise to a dramatic and theatrical experience which is wider than either
Artaud or Brecht envisaged” (p.28) Kavanagh’s statement unveils that
Shaffer puts importance on human consciousness and because he emphasizes “mental
attentiveness and emotional engagement”. the characters in the play are very
important as they draw attention to human consciousness.
In conclusion, Shaffer and Pinter use
unique techniques to draw the readers' attention. Shaffer draws the reader into
the story and forces the audience to become involved with his storytelling.
Pinter, on the other hand, displays human consciousness and language through
his use of body language.
CONNOR, S.
(ed.) (2004): The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism,
FERRANDO, F.
(2020). PHILOSOPHICAL POSTHUMANISM. BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC.
MacMurraugh-Kavanagh,
M. K. (2001). Peter Shaffer: Theatre and drama. Basingstoke:
Palgrave.
Raby, P.
(2009). The Cambridge companion to Harold Pinter. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Lepage, L.
(2008) ‘Posthuman Perspectives and Postdramatic Theatre: The Theory and
Practice of Hybrid Ontology in Katie Mitchell’s The Waves’, Culture, Language
and Representation VI, pp. 137–49.
Gill,
Rosalind (2007) ‘Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a Sensibility’.
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 10(2): 147–166.
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