Against Babel: A comparative model of tragedy
Abstract
Even in its earlier recorded forms, on stage in Athens, the plays of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides inspired controversy and genuine questions of censorship. Most famously, Plato suggested that the ideal state could not afford the subversive influence of such poets. Today, the death of tragedy is somewhat less grand; it has not died, but is simply fading away like a retired soldier. Full of memories of grand bouts with fate, stunning pictures of violence and sublime moments of grief, the old solder speaks; and no one listens. My dissertation will show, to the contrary, that this fading whimper of a genre is precisely what keeps the ancient idea of tragedy alive in the present day. No longer the awesome spectacle of royals and emperors, tragedy finds its relevance in the marginalized, downtrodden victims of colonialism. By tracing the deep solemnity and bare honesty of post-colonial responses to slavery, imperialism and diaspora in the diverse examples of Paradise Lost, Sweet Smell of Success, Hamlet, Cien Años de Soledad and Macbeth, I will identify a unifying model of tragedy that works across culture, time and genre.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Ross, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Classical studies|Comparative literature
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