The Fragmentation of Modern Society in the Plays of David Storey & David Mamet With Special Reference to The Contractor, In Celebration, Home & American Buffalo, Glengarry Glen Ross , The Cryptogram

Abstract

The thesis attempts to examine the theme of fragmentation or decentralization that has become one of the major thematic concerns of postmodem literature. It is the purpose of this study to investigate three aspects of fragmentation that are dominant in the plays in question: the family as a social institution, the individual and language.

Fragmentation is revealed as inherent deep in the family structure, and as being there in the individual's inability to achieve a core self, in the language that is no longer a means for communicating genuinely and meaningfully, in the inefficacy of traditions values, marriage vows, etc.

Part One, Chapter I, attempts to investigate what is meant by fragmentation or decentralisation as main features of a postmodem culture. The chapter further attempts to survey postmodemism both as a cultural and as a literary movement.

In Chapter II, the candidate attempts to make a survey of both the social and historical background that have had an impact on both playwrights. The chapter attempts to discuss also the formative influences that have had a direct bearing upon their writings.