The Struggle for Self-Awareness As Reflected in Mark Ravenhill's Play Some Explicit Polaroids


Kılınç S., Golban T.

Homeros, cilt.3, sa.1, ss.53-64, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 3 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.33390/homeros.3.006
  • Dergi Adı: Homeros
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.53-64
  • Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

th eeAABSTRACT
The
concern with self
-
awareness has dominated the Western philosophy and literature being
reflected mostly through the ancient Greek motif “know thyself”. The awareness of the self would
promote one’s identity as a unique entity, which should be capable of exp
ressing individual thoughts
and experiences in order to confer moral significance to one’s actions.
The present study focuses on Mark Ravenhill’s play Some Explicit Polaroids which offers a
portrait of the societal chaos in a desensitised London, where hu
man life and emotions are commodified
and engender the human potential for genuine feelings and expression of moral judgement, thus
thwarting the creation of true relationships. Through the characters of his play, Ravenhill generates an
awareness of the mo
ral vacuum, which is created as a result of indifference or/and violence of the
government apparatus which forces the individual to develop survival mechanisms that abandon
altogether the moral significance of their actions and, respectively, any concern w
ith the development
of an authentic self. Nadia, a character in Ravenhill’s play, who lacks individual critical judgement and
self
-
knowledge, forms her identity in terms of transaction and exchange that allows her to be easily
objectified. This research ex
plores Nadia’s attempt to regain self
-
value and self
-
awareness in terms of
the transformative power of negativity and will to truth as the transgression and destabilization of the
illusion of perfections as to bring the conflictual state into focus by posi
ng the lethargic values and
disintegration of faith which are inherent in the happy world myth
.
Key words:
Awareness, negativity, transgression, transformation, will to power
concern with self
-
awareness has dominated the Western philosophy and literature being
reflected mostly through the ancient Greek motif “know thyself”. The awareness of the self would
promote one’s identity as a unique entity, which should be capable of exp
ressing individual thoughts
and experiences in order to confer moral significance to one’s actions.
The present study focuses on Mark Ravenhill’s play Some Explicit Polaroids which offers a
portrait of the societal chaos in a desensitised London, where hu
man life and emotions are commodified
and engender the human potential for genuine feelings and expression of moral judgement, thus
thwarting the creation of true relationships. Through the characters of his play, Ravenhill generates an
awareness of the mo
ral vacuum, which is created as a result of indifference or/and violence of the
government apparatus which forces the individual to develop survival mechanisms that abandon
altogether the moral significance of their actions and, respectively, any concern w
ith the development
of an authentic self. Nadia, a character in Ravenhill’s play, who lacks individual critical judgement and
self
-
knowledge, forms her identity in terms of transaction and exchange that allows her to be easily
objectified. This research ex
plores Nadia’s attempt to regain self
-
value and self
-
awareness in terms of
the transformative power of negativity and will to truth as the transgression and destabilization of the
illusion of perfections as to bring the conflictual state into focus by posi
ng the lethargic values and
disintegration of faith which are inherent in the happy world myth
.
Key words:
Awareness, negativity, transgression, transformation, will to power
concern with self
-
awareness has dominated the Western philosophy and literature being
reflected mostly through the ancient Greek motif “know thyself”. The awareness of the self would
promote one’s identity as a unique entity, which should be capable of exp
ressing individual thoughts
and experiences in order to confer moral significance to one’s actions.
The present study focuses on Mark Ravenhill’s play Some Explicit Polaroids which offers a
portrait of the societal chaos in a desensitised London, where hu
man life and emotions are commodified
and engender the human potential for genuine feelings and expression of moral judgement, thus
thwarting the creation of true relationships. Through the characters of his play, Ravenhill generates an
awareness of the mo
ral vacuum, which is created as a result of indifference or/and violence of the
government apparatus which forces the individual to develop survival mechanisms that abandon
altogether the moral significance of their actions and, respectively, any concern w
ith the development
of an authentic self. Nadia, a character in Ravenhill’s play, who lacks individual critical judgement and
self
-
knowledge, forms her identity in terms of transaction and exchange that allows her to be easily
objectified. This research ex
plores Nadia’s attempt to regain self
-
value and self
-
awareness in terms of
the transformative power of negativity and will to truth as the transgression and destabilization of the
illusion of perfections as to bring the conflictual state into focus by posi
ng the lethargic values and
disintegration of faith which are inherent in the happy world myth
.
Key words:
Awareness, negativity, transgression, transformation, will to power