The Journey from Compliancy to Intimate Revolt: A Kristevan Reading of Sam Shepard’s Three Major Plays

Forough Emam,Shideh Ahmadzadeh

doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.5p.164

Abstract

The study intends to examine three major plays of Sam Shepard –True West, Fool for Love, and A Lie of the Mind– to explore the underlying reasons for the characters’ social transgression in the light of Julia Kristeva’s theory of intimate revolt. Notwithstanding that all the characters feel alienated from reality and other members of society, there is a marked divergence between male and female characters in the approach they adopt to revolt against the societal norms so as to transform their lives. The findings suggest that while men seem less likely to revolt against the rules of patriarchy, it is predominantly women who embark on revolting against the psyche-numbing society to bring jouissance to their once-predetermined meaningless lives. The study comes to the conclusion that by reconnecting with their personal desire and preserving their individuality in a society that hegemonizes its subjects’ identities, women engage in what Kristeva calls ‘intimate revolt’ and become the forces of power and change in the modern world.

Highlights

Sam Shepard, one of the most prestigious contemporary American playwrights, wrote more than fifty plays mainly concerned with the theme of identity
The findings suggest that while men seem less likely to revolt against the rules of patriarchy, it is predominantly women who embark on revolting against the psyche-numbing society to bring jouissance to their once-predetermined meaningless lives
The study comes to the conclusion that by reconnecting with their personal desire and preserving their individuality in a society that hegemonizes its subjects’ identities, women engage in what Kristeva calls ‘intimate revolt’ and become the forces of power and change in the modern world

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Sam Shepard, one of the most prestigious contemporary American playwrights, wrote more than fifty plays mainly concerned with the theme of identity. The mass media plays a pivotal role in deluding the subjects with its spurious representations of reality which supersede the real pleasures and experiences of the individuals; the alienation that ensues hinders the subjects from revolting against the overruling authority and in due course contributes to the destruction of their psychic space. Destroying this space leads to “the loss of meaning ... As stated by Oliver, “Kristeva’s prescription for depression and melancholy is what she calls intimate, or psychic, revolt” [143]; Kristeva firmly believes that subjects living in modern societies should experience intimate revolt as the prerequisite of enjoying a healthy psyche

MEDIA SPECTACLE AND MYTH OF THE WEST

CONCLUSION