Gloria가 빠진 Gloria의 서사 읽어내기

Abstract

American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (1980~ ) is well-known for his recent play Gloria (2015), which was the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. This play composed of two acts shows Gloria’s gunshots and suicide on the stage. After this incident, her three colleagues appear as writers who produce novels about Gloria’s suicidal story, without Gloria herself. They are Dean, Kendra and Nan. Dean is a sole witness for Gloria’s suicide; Kendra, a shopping mania, focuses on Gloria’s victims, and Nan’s storytelling is based upon her experience about realizing her pregnancy when the incident happened outside her office. Interestingly, their narratives have in common: they spin diverse stories from Gloria’s suicide but except for Gloria herself. In this vein, writing narratives refers to who the subject of representation is and how the representation mechanism works. As the play progresses, its main focus moves on the importance of three writers’ authorship and their existing space before starting their writing. Representation draws epistemological perspectives on between truth and fiction. Therefore, representation of Gloria’s story leads to truth-like power of representation and properties that try making facts true. Consequently, this play lies in the middle of the truth-like facts and truth itself. Nobody can form the boundary between them. It seems that there is no meaning to clarify them.