The disintegrated ‘dream’: Immigrant plays and modern American drama in the 21st-century
Salmasi, Katayoun
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116024
Description
Title
The disintegrated ‘dream’: Immigrant plays and modern American drama in the 21st-century
Author(s)
Salmasi, Katayoun
Issue Date
2022-07-11
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Robinson, Valleri
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Robinson, Valleri
Committee Member(s)
Zahedi, Farindokht
Mitchell, Thomas Owen
Stevens, Andrea
Department of Study
Theatre
Discipline
Theatre
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Theatre
Drama
American Modern Drama
Immigration
Immigrant Drama
American Immigrant Drama
Modernism
Modern Drama
Modern American Drama
Exile
Yussef El Guindi
Novid Parsi
Martyna Majok, Naomi Iizuka
Abstract
This dissertation examines the relationship between 21st-century American immigrant drama and modern American drama in style, characterization, theme, content, and format. I argue that American immigrant drama has adopted the style of modern American drama as a generality in content and form due to social and political concerns, in the last decades. The 21st-century American immigrant drama focuses on immigrants’ views about the American Dream and how that intersects with the accessibility of liberty, civil rights, and economic stability in the United States. American immigrant drama, primarily written by first-generation or second-generation immigrants, explores an immigrant’s experiences navigating his or her new life in the United States.
I did not choose the understudy plays randomly; they bring together four playwrights from the East, Europe, the Middle East, and the Arab world. Each of these playwrights has a unique experience about immigration to the United States, with various reasons for immigration. However, their perspectives on American society and the issues confronting an immigrant in this society are comparable. They represent the four nations that have been the source of the most significant number of immigrants in American history.
These selected plays and many other 21st-century immigrant plays deal with immigration, culture, family, deportation, justice, exile, and law problems. Immigrant plays are essentially a drama of ideas rather than action; they express specific statements they want to spread in American society. Immigrant playwrights examine the host community and address problematic issues in society. They use drama to demonstrate relations that prevail in the United States, which sometimes embeds discrimination and pressure on refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers.
20th-century drama represents actions, reactions, and dialogues that reflect Post-World War II American themes: the dissolution of the American family, exile, the American Dream’s failure, and the downturn of economy in the United States. 21st-century immigrant plays are also Post-September 11 in character and reflect significant experiences of alienation in exile and the American Dream’s failure. They present the loss of faith in hopes and dreams for immigrants and asylum seekers, who crave freedom and desire success.
American immigrant drama and modern American drama examine human experience where the past contrasts with the new reality of the American Dream. These genres have had constant viewpoints on society, personality, and relationships. In the United States, the country of Dreams, these topics have been a critical theatre discussion for several decades. American immigrant drama deals with the paradoxes of immigrant families’ relationships, doubts, worries, and eventual collapse. Immigrant families and individuals in 21st-century plays attempt to manage the essentials of harsh new society’s reality by retreating into a distant past of dead dreams.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.