CRITICISM OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM ON A MICROCOSMIC LEVEL: GLOBAL POLITICS IN AN INDUSTRIAL TOWN IN JOHN ARDEN'S THE WORKHOUSE DONKEY

John Arden'in The Workhouse Donkey isimli oyunu, kuzey İngiltere'deki bir kasabada kurgulanan yerel politikaları ve yerel yönetimdeki yozlaşmaları alaycı bir şekilde eleştirme amacıyla betimler. Gerçek bir olaydan yola çıkarak kurgulanan oyun özellikle politik hayatın Birleşik Krallık'ta endüstriyel bir kasabada nasıl yaşandığına odaklanır. Arden'e göre oyunun geçtiği yer ve karakterler, oyunun teması açısından önemlidir. Buna rağmen oyunda sergilenenler, kuzeydeki bir kasabanın bölgesel sorunlarını aşar. Oyunda mikrokozmik seviyede işlenen sorunlar, aslında evrensel düzeyde politik hayatın bir yansımasıdır, sistemin yerel düzeydeki temsilinden öte, oyun, sistemin kendisini eleştirir. Belirli bir politik partiyi ya da politik görüşü hedef almaktansa, politik sistemi eleştiren oyunun, bu nedenle de politik bir tavrı vardır. Bundan dolayı bu çalışmanın amacı, The Workhouse Donkey isimli oyunu detaylı bir şekilde incelemek ve kuzeydeki bir kasabanın yerel politikası kapsamında günümüz politik sistemini karikatürize eden bu oyunu, Bernard Crick tarafından öne sürülen politika ve çokça tartışılan tanımlar bağlamında değerlendirmektir.

BİR SİYASİ SİSTEM ELEŞTİRİSİ: JOHN ARDEN'İN THE WORKHOUSE DONKEY İSİMLİ OYUNUNDAKİ KÜRESEL VE YEREL POLİTİKALAR

John Arden's The Workhouse Donkey depicts the local politics of a northern English town in order to criticise the corruptions within the local government in a mocking way. Derived from a real-life story, the play speci?cally focuses on the political life that can be experienced in an industrial town in the United Kingdom. According to Arden, the setting and the characters are important for the theme of the play. Nevertheless, what is portrayed in the play transcends the regional problems of a northern town. On the other hand, what is treated in the play on a microcosmic level is, in fact, a re?ection of politics on a macrocosmic, global level since it is the system that is being criticised in the play regardless of its local representation. Hence, the play has a political tone that criticises the political system rather than targeting a political party or a political view. Thus, this study aims to offer a detailed analysis of John Arden's play The Workhouse Donkey in order to justify the signi?cance of the play as a criticism of contemporary political system caricaturised as in the scope of local politics in a northern town in line with the muchdebated de?nitions of politics proposed by Bernard Crick.

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