Discursive and Theatrical Spectacle of Seven Jewish Children

• Main Authors: Chen, Hsun-Pei, 陳珣沛
• Other Authors: Su, Tsu-Chung
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/udu754

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 104 === My thesis concerns itself with Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza and the controversy surrounding it. Viewing the play as a political event, Churchill wrote it in an attempt to balance the news coverage by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and to support the Palestinians in the midst of the ongoing Gaza bombardment. The London premiere caused accusations against Churchill of being hostile toward Israel in an anti-Semitic manner. I apply the framework that circumscribes the play’s text, controversy, and performance under the rubric of discursive and theatrical spectacle. Examining the discourses generated in the play’s script and the criticisms of the play that reveal various critical standpoints, I suggest that the textual analysis of the play results in an impasse. I aim to introduce the play’s multi-faceted perspectives to the understanding of the Israel/Palestine question through the exploration of theater practices. This thesis is divided into four parts. The Prologue serves as an introduction which provides an overview of the play’s background, script, and the problem in narrating Israeli/Palestinian history. In Chapter One, I delve into the controversial references in the playtext which have received critical attacks based on an anti-Semitic reading and point out the problem inherent in the criticisms of the play. Chapter Two discusses the play’s theatrical value in the context of Antonin Artaud, Bertolt Brecht, and Augusto Boal. Through the examination of different adaptations, I maintain the play’s ability to present manifold viewpoints that divests the play of an anti-Semitic interpretation. Therefore, I draw attention to the possibilities of theater spectacle that can counteract the images produced by media dissemination. In the Epilogue, introducing the activists promoting critical thought through their engagement in the Israel/Palestine question, I conclude the thesis with the concerns about the precarious life that Churchill’s play aims at.