Cultural Identity and Gender Stereotypes in Christina Reid’s plays Joyriders and Clowns

• Název práce v češtině: Kulturní Identita a Genderové Stereotypy v Dramatech Christiny Reidové Joyriders a Clowns
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Cultural Identity and Gender Stereotypes in Christina Reid’s plays Joyriders and Clowns
• Klíčová slova: Konflikt v Severním Irsku|Severní Irsko|Christina Reid|drama|Joyriders|Clowns|genderové stereotypy|kulturní identita
• Klíčová slova anglicky: The Troubles|Northern Ireland|Christina Reid|drama|Joyriders|Clowns|gender stereotypes|cultural identity
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2021/2022
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Ústav anglofonních literatur a kultur (21-UALK)
• Vedoucí / školitel: doc. Clare Wallace, M.A., Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno a potvrzeno stud. odd.
• Datum přihlášení: 14.12.2021
• Datum zadání: 15.12.2021
• Schválení administrátorem: zatím neschvalováno
• Datum potvrzení stud. oddělením: 06.01.2022
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 05.09.2022 00:00
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 09.07.2022
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 05.09.2022
• Odevzdaná/finalizovaná: odevzdaná studentem a finalizovaná
• Oponenti: prof. Mgr. Ondřej Pilný, Ph.D.

Zásady pro vypracování

The thirty-year Northern Irish conflict, also known as the Troubles, is the subject of many theatrical plays written and set in the era. Northern Irish playwright Christina Reid produced several plays that depict life in the epicentres of the Troubles. This thesis will explore two of her plays Joyriders and its sequel Clowns within a socio-cultural frame. It will concentrate specifically on gender stereotypes and cultural identity portrayed in the plays contrasted with Northern Irish reality. The two works are rarely observed in the existing critical conversation. When it comes to gender and cultural identity, the focus is predominantly set on her plays The Belle of Belfast City, My Name Shall I Tell You My Name and Tea in a China Cup, this can be seen in the works of Lisa Fitzpatrick, Mary Trotter and Brenda J. Liddy. Therefore, the point of this thesis will be to connect to the previous research and explore the topic in different plots. The thesis investigation will revolve around the fragmented cultural identities in the Northern Irish society during the Troubles and how that collided with the gender stereotypes of the two cultures. These findings will be contrasted with the characters in the plays. Although most of the critical conversation focuses on Reid’s Protestant-centric works, this thesis will closely examine Joyriders and Clowns because they contain more varied characters in terms of cultural identity and gender characteristics. This thesis will argue that Christina Reid breaks gender and cultural stereotypes in her plays through the addition of characters, that were not common in the Northern Irish literary canon, to the historical narratives, showing the real representation of the area. Structurally, the thesis will have five chapters including the introduction and conclusion. Introduction will begin with the thesis’ argument and the setting of the thesis into the critical conversation. The first chapter will be concerned with Northern Irish socio-cultural background, the traditional cultural identities and gender stereotypes among the two cultures, i.e., Protestant and Catholic. Using this framework, the second and third chapters will focus on thematic motifs and characters in both plays. The second chapter will discuss the cultural identities in the plays, e.g., Catholic youth vs. the middle-class Protestant guardian and the third chapter will cover the gender stereotypes in the mentioned plays. e.g., female protagonist in male navigated Northern Ireland and gendered jobs within the play. The thesis will be concluded with the findings of the investigation.

Seznam odborné literatury

Primary source
Reid, Christina. Plays: One. London: Methuen, 1997.
Secondary sources
Bosi, Lorenzo, and Gianluca De Fazio. “1. Contextualizing the Troubles: Investigating Deeply Divided Societies through Social Movements Research.” In The Troubles in Northern Ireland and Theories of Social Movements. Edited by Lorenzo Bosi and Gianluca De Fazio. 11–32. Amsterdam University Press, 2017.

Coffey, Fiona Coleman. Political Acts: Women in Northern Irish Theatre, 1921-2012. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2016.

Fay, Marie-Therese, Mike Morrissey, and Marie Smyth. Northern Ireland's Troubles the Human Costs. London: Pluto Press in association with The Cost for the Troubles Study, 1999.

Fitzpatrick, Lisa. “Disrupting Metanarratives: Anne Devlin, Christina Reid, Marina Carr, and the Irish Dramatic Repertory.” Irish University Review 35, no. 2 (2005): 320-333.

Liddy, Brenda Josephine, and Eamonn Jordan. The Drama of War in the Theatre of Anne Devlin, Marie Jones, and Christina Reid, Three Irish Playwrights Three Irish Playwrights. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.

Llewellyn-Jones, Margaret. Contemporary Irish Drama & Cultural Identity. Bristol: Intellect, 2002.

McKittrick, David, and David McVea. Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Rev. ed. London: Viking, 2012.

Tracie, Rachel. Christina Reid's Theatre of Memory and Identity. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018.

Trotter, Mary. “Women playwrights in Northern Ireland”. In The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Women Playwrights. 119-133. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Walker, Tom. “Something in the Making”. In Terrorism and Literature. 303-319. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.