David Hare'in "Stuff Happens"ı: Alternatif Bir Irak Savaşı Anlatısı

Postmodernism 20. yüzyılda hiç şüphesiz tarih kavramına bakışı kökten bir şekilde değiştirmiştir. Bu değişimde resmi tarih gibi üst-anlatıları (grand narratives) alt-anlatılarla (minor narratives) ters yüz edilebileceğini gösteren Jean-François Lyotard’ın payı da oldukça büyüktür. Bu makalenin amacı David Hare tarafından yazılan Stuff Happens adlı oyununda kullanılan teatral tekniklerin Lyotard’ın izlerini takip ederek 21. yüzyılın başındaki Irak Savaşı hakkındaki üst-anlatıları nasıl değersiz kıldığını incelemektir. Oyun tarihi gerçekliğe olan bakışın daima şüpheci bir yaklaşım ile olması gerektiğini verbatim tiyatro tekniğini manipüle ederek anlatır. Hare Irak Savaşı hakkında politikacılar tarafından verilen motamot demeçleri ve dolayısıyla oluşturulan üst anlatıları daha az duyulan alt-anlatılar ve alternatif gerçekliklerle aynı sahnede buluşturarak hem politik gerçekliğin tutarsızlıklarını gün yüzüne çıkarır hem de her anlatının aslında bir kurgusal olduğunu vurgular. Bu açıdan postmodern bir metin olan Stuff Happens susturulan alternatif gerçeklere dikkat çekerek üst-anlatıların oluşturulmasına karşı çıkar ve politik üst-anlatıların asla tek gerçek olamayacağını bir kez daha gösterir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Stuff Happens, David Hare, Jean-François Lyotard, Postmodern Tarih, Irak Savaşı

David Hare's "Stuff Happens": An Alternative Narrative of Iraq War

In the 20th century postmodernism has fundamentally altered the approach to the concept of history. Showing that grand narratives can be reversed by minor narratives, Jean-François Lyotard played a great role in the development of postmodernism. The purpose of this article is to analyse how the dramatic techniques used in David Hare’s play Stuff Happens in line with Lyotard’s take deconstruct grand narratives about Iraq War at the beginning of the 21st century. By manipulating verbatim theatre techniques, the play asserts that historical reality must always be perceived through a sceptical perspective. Setting the political verbatim accounts, therefore the grand narratives, with unheard minor voices/narratives, Hare, both unearths the discrepancies of political reality and stresses that every narrative is fictional. In this respect, as a postmodern text, Stuff Happens rejects construction of grand narratives by drawing attention to alternative realities and demonstrates that political grand narratives cannot be unique realities.

Keywords:

Stuff Happens, David Hare, Jean-François Lyotard, Postmodern History, Iraq War,

PDF

___

Anderson, Michael, and Wilkenson, Linden (2007). “A Resurgence of Verbatim Theatre: Authenticity, Empathy and Transformation”. Australasian Drama Studies, 50: 153-69.
Billington, Michael (2004, Sept. 11). “Stuff Happens”. The Guardian, Re-trieved from https://www. theguardian.com/
Bottoms, Stephen J. (2006). “Putting the Document into Documentary: An Unwelcome Corrective?” TDR: The Drama Review, 50.3: 56-68.
Colleran, Jean (2012). Theatre and War: Theatrical Responses Since 1991. New York: Palgrave.
Dawson, Gary Fisher (1999). Documentary Theatre in the United States: An Historical Survey and Analysis of Its Content, Form and, Stagecraft. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Document-1: The United States Congress. Public Law 107-40. 107th Cong. H. Rept. H. J. Res. 64. Washington: GPO, 2001. The Library of Congress.
Esch-van Kan, Anneka (2011). “The Documentary Turn in British Contemporary Drama and the Return of the Political: David Hare’s Stuff Happens and Richard Norton-Taylor’s Called to Account”. A History of British Drama: Genres, Developments, Modern Interpretations. (Ed. Sybille Baumbach, Birgit Neumann, and Ansgar Nunnig). Trier: WVT, 413-28.
Forsyth, Allyson, and Megson, Chris (2009). “Introduction”. Get Real: Documentary Theatre Past and Present. (Ed. Allyson Forsyth and Chris Megson). New York: Palgrave, 1-5.
Gaston, Georg (1993). “Interview: David Hare”. Theatre Journal, 45: 213-25.
Gelpi, Christopher et al. (2009). Paying the Human Costs of War: American Public Opinion and Casualties in Military Conflicts. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP.
Gipson-King, Jay M. (2010). “The Path to 9/11 vs. Stuff Happens: Media and Political Efficacy in the War on Terror”. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 24.3: 151-68.
Golimowska, Karolina (2012). “Transatlantic Miscommunication in David Hare’s Drama Stuff Happens”. COPAS - Current Objectives of Postgraduate American Studies, 13: 1-14.
Hamilton, Timothy James (2007). Terrorism, Government and Post-9/11 Docudrama. Doctoral Dissertation, Calgary: University of Calgary.
Hammond, Will, and Steward, Dan (2008). Verbatim: Contemporary Documentary Theatre, London: Oberon.
Hare, David (2006). Stuff Happens. London: Faber Pub.
Hopton, Tricia (2011). “Adapting Verbatim Theatre: David Hare’s Stuff Happens”. Pockets of Change: Adaptation and Cultural Transition. (Ed. Tricia Hopton et al.). Plymouth: Lexington, 15-28.
Hornby, Richard (2005). “War Fever”. The Hudson Review, 57.4: 647-54.
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall (2007). “Justifying the War in Iraq: What the Bush Administration's Uses of Evidence Reveal”. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 10.2: 249-73.
Kuti, Elizabeth (2008). “Tragic Plots from Bootle to Baghdad”. Contemporary Theatre Review, 18.4: 457-69.
Lachman, Michal (2007). “The Colours of History or Scenes from the Inquiry into Verbatim Drama”. Contemporary Drama in English, 14: 311-24.
Lahr, John (2004, Sept. 27). “Collateral Damage: David Hare on the march to war in Iraq”. The New Yorker, Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/
Lansford, Tom (2011). 9/11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Chronology and Reference Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Lyotard, Jean François (1984). The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. (Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi, Trans.). Manchester: Manchester UP.
Lyotard, Jean François (1989). “The Sign of History.” The Lyotard Reader. (Ed. Andrew Benjamin). Oxford: Blackwell, 393-411.
Martin, Carol (2010). “Introduction: Dramaturgy of the Real”. Dramaturgy of the Real on the World Stage. (Ed: Carol Martin). Hampshire: Palgrave, 1-14.
McGoldrick, Dominic (2004). From ‘9-11’ to the ‘Iraq War 2003’: International Law in an Age of Complexity. Portland: Hart.
Paget, Derek (1987). “‘Verbatim Theatre’: Oral History and Documentary Techniques”. New Theatre Quarterly, 3.12: 317-36.
Reinelt, Janelle (2005). “Stuff Happens”. Theatre Journal, 57.2: 303-306.......
Soto-Moretti, Donna (2005). “Trouble in the House: David Hare’s Stuff Happens.” Contemporary Theatre Review, 15.3: 309-19.
Suskind, Ron (2014, 17 Oct.). “Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush”. The New York Times Magazine, Retrived from https://www. nytimes.com/
Tolan, Fiona (2010). New Directions: Writing Post-1990. London: York.
Tucker, Spencer C. (2016). “Afghanistan War (October 7, 2001 – December 31, 2014)”. U.S. Conflicts in the 21st Century: Afghanistan War, Iraq War, and the War on Terror. (Ed. Spencer C. Tucker). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 22-26.
URL-1: “Bush Makes Historic Speech Aboard Warship”. https://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/05/01/bush.transcript (Accessed: 13 Jan. 2017).
URL-2: “Bush Knew Saddam Had No Weapons of Mass Destruction”. https://www.salon.com/2007/09/06/bush_wmd/ (Accessed: 13 Jan. 2017).
URL-3: DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers. http://archive.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=2367 (Accessed: 11 Apr. 2017).
URL-4: Young, Toby. “Embedded / Dumb Show / Stuff Happens.” http://www.nosacredcows.co.uk/theatre_reviews/220/embedded_dumb_show_stuff_happens.html (Accessed: 22 Feb. 2017).
Wessendorf, Markus (2007). “Postmodern Drama Post-9/11: Adriano Shaplin’s Pugilist Specialist and David Hare’s Stuff Happens”. Contemporary Drama in English, 14: 325-46.
Woodward, Ashley. “Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998)”. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Accessed: 17.01.2017).