On Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play and a Western Understanding of the Human Response to the Loss of Electricity

Cheon, Theonesse

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/95990 Copy

Description

Title

On Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play and a Western Understanding of the Human Response to the Loss of Electricity

Author(s)

Cheon, Theonesse

Issue Date

2017

Keyword(s)

• Sarah Bay-Cheng
• Ritual storytelling
• Theatre guilds
• Opera
• Coping Mechanisms
• Bias
• Television
• Marshall McLuhan
• Extension

Abstract

"This essay is in part a ""psychological"" analysis and in part an experimentation on applying media studies to interpret a contemporary piece of literature, Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, by Anne Washburn. This is because I find this play as a proposal in that it offers us one illustration of how humans may react to the sudden loss of electricity. I intend to analyze this reaction and offer a way to understand why humans may react to the sudden loss of electricity the way the characters in the play do. It is of course not the only way and I am aware of some of the problems that may arise in going with this interpretation. Yet I do want to demonstrate how far, given the space provided, such an interpretation may go. With that said, I propose that the play offers us how people may cope with the loss of electricity, suggesting that how they cope reflects a bias that media studies can explain."

Publisher

University Library

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95990

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2017 Theonesse Cheon

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