Towards abjection: the loss of selfhood in the plays of Marina Carr

Towards Abjection: The Loss ofSelfhood in the Plays of Marina Carr • This dissertation examines the condition and nature of repressed subjectivities in Marina Carr's plays, from 1988-2002. The plays explore painful processes of identity through the lens of Carr's initial absurdist style to the more naturalistic Irish theatrical style, which typically concerns the familiar issues of oppression, repression and rural Ireland. For Carr, the processes of identity are ingrained in the past, but the impact of these processes is always present and significantly powerful in her plays. This dissertation examines the ways in which loss of selfhood and repressed identities are embedded in Carr's works, and how this links to Julia Kristeva's notion of abjection. The abject self and its development can be traced from play to Play. Aspects of identity in the works, whether that of Traveller woman, corrupt politician, traitor or displaced mother figure present the subject as occupying a position of marginality, experiencing the analogous culpability and exclusion. Her characters depict the confluence of contradictory forces, seeking to belong and yet bereft of a spiritual and emotional belonging that may enable them to do so. While this dissertation explores the power ofthe past in terms of the present in Carr's plays, it necessarily refers to and contextualises cultural and historical references. The plays reveal characters' individual estrangement and its effect on their relationship with others in the world around. Kristeva's theory applied to Carr's plays problematise individual states of abjection beyond the subject's encounters with borders within oneself to include borders in society. Recognising this reasserts the possibility of confronting and coming to terms with abjection as a whole, meaning that confronting individual problems is relevant to the transformation of society in general.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo