Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park as Dramedic Representation

Abstract

The current study probes Bruce Norris’s play, Clybourne Park, from the perspective of the genre of Dramedy. The study explores how the play combines both aspects of comedy and tragedy in the same situations and charcters. Aristotle’s concept of tragedy is combined with Bergson’s theorization of comedy for formulating the theoretical model of dramedy. Further, Terry Eagleton’s conceptual framework of humour is incorporated into the formuation of this model. The analysis is based on this model of dramedy focusing on three aspects of the play; dramedic action, dramedic characters, and dramedic effect. The study suggests that humour in Clybourne Park is not merely an element of entertainment. Rather, humour foclizes the tragic narrative of race, communal anxieties and historical trans(formation) behind the comic mask of the play. This tragic background of the play and its absurdic mask of comedy create contradictory dramedic effect in the readers. Furthermore, the study follows a qualitative approach for the textual analysis of the play based on close reading strategy.  The study concludes that the dramedic structure of the play strengthens its social critique and influences audience response in terms of disgust and laughter.

Key Words: Dramedy, humour and social critique, Clybourne Park.