Dramaturgies britanniques (1980-2000) by Jean-Marc Lanteri (review)

Abstract

MLRy 100.3, 2005 805 his argument (though the inclusion of Raymond Williams would, in certain respects, have been more useful). Throughout, Lindner debates his chosen novels in a clear, enthusiastic, and fluent manner, and his readings are often persuasive. In spite ofthe author's liveliness, I have quite a few strong reservations. Given the amount ofwork on consumerism and the nineteenth-century novel, I would have liked a prominent and direct formulation of this book's distinctive contribution. Although, at various points in the chapters, Lindner distinguishes his arguments with regard to particular novels, I needed to be convinced that the book as a whole constitutes a specific and worthwhile addition to the field. He offers many comparisons that I have not come across before, but these only serve to indicate related problems. He moves from a discussion of Mary Barton and North and South to a discussion of Trainspotting on the grounds that all three novels deal in the 'same traumas of alienation, depression, demotivation, despair, violence, and self-destruction' (p. 41). He attaches a discussion of Amis's Money to his discussion of Vanity Fair because both novels deal in 'the commodity and its attendant spectacles' (p. 63). The Eustace Diamonds is paired with Madonna on a similarly generalized basis. It seems to me that any scholar who finds it easy to move between such distinct and chronologically distant works and creators is probably not arguing anything of value about any of them. The correspondences to which Lindner draws the reader's attention are broad and banal. Similarly, I felt the lack of a fuller and more precise argument as to Lindner's choice of texts. He offers 'a quick word about the novels considered here' in his introduction (p. 2), and his texts certainly allow him to make the arguments he wishes to make. But I think he could have made the same arguments with numerous other writers. In sum, although I enjoyed and admired certain aspects ofthe writer's disposition, my predominant response was one of exasperation. University of Reading Peter Stoneley Dramaturgies britanniques (ig80-2000). Ed. by Jean-Marc Lanteri. (Ecritures contemporaines, 5) Paris and Caen: Lettres Modernes Minard. 2002. 228 pp. ?20. ISBN 2-256-91047-4. Major social transformations in Britain since 1979 have affectedtheatrical institutions in various, often adverse, ways. Paradoxically, they have also given rise to a huge pro? duction of new works by young playwrights. Despite the diversity of their approach, many share an angry rebellion against the injustices of capitalism, producing an 'In yerface drama' which crudely assails the audience with the themes of violence (social, economic, political, as well as sexual), scepticism, and disillusionment. Although vi? olence is certainly not a new theme on the British stage, in these plays it also rules dramatic structure, as experimentation and the deconstruction of traditional forms have become the main organizing principles. This excellent collection of reviews of British plays since the 1980s examines this 'New play boom amid a General Gloom', and asks whether it has successfully renewed British theatre. The volume is framed by a detailed introduction by Jean-Marc Lanteri, and, in the second part, extracts from plays by Jim Cartwright, Chris Hannan, Philip Ridley, and James Stock. Each chapter offers a detailed overview of how contemporary In yer face drama places the ethical, political, and metaphysical dimensions of postmodern violence within a problematic dramatic structure. Thus, Isabelle Smadja shows how Sarah Kane's portrayal of contemporary dehumanization in Blasted problematizes the power ofthe theatre to effectsocial change. Sabine Jean's account of Mark Ravenhill's work reveals a similar awareness ofthe theatre's limitations. Ravenhill's plays become 806 Reviews lucid and fleetingphotographs of the postmodern reduction of reality to simulacrum. Sarah Hirschmuller surveys the continuing relevance of Howard Baker's challenging assessments of historical crimes. The theme of institutional and ideological violence is continued by Elisabeth Angel-Perez in her analysis of Martin Crimp's autotelic The Treatment and Attempts on her Life. While different from the politically committed drama of the 1970s, this drama might, as Lanteri argues in his introduction, herald a renewal of political theatre through its concern with new issues, with...