Infield, Rebecca (2021) ‘Briser tous les cadres’: theatre censorship and decolonisation in Britain and France (1950-1969). PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The matter of ‘decolonising culture’ has become an integral part of twenty-first century cultural discourse and theatre is no exception to this. But how did theatre censors react to decolonisation when it was at its height during the 1950s and 1960s? This thesis provides the first comparative study of theatre censorship in Britain and France in relation to decolonisation from 1950 to 1969. I broaden the existent definition of censorship and apply this to plays which both addressed the question of decolonisation and also adopted a ‘decolonising’ form. A binary definition of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ censorship is established and referred to throughout the thesis. However, ultimately, these two categories of censorship overlap and the case studies used challenge this framework, showing the plethora of ways in which censorship can be defined. The corpus puts little-known and widely-performed texts, written from both the metropolitan and colonial contexts, into dialogue with one another. This includes playwrighting from Mona Brand, John Arden, Barry Reckord, Michel Vinaver, Hocine Bouzaher and Kateb Yacine. Within these plays, the thesis tracks recurring themes and techniques, as well as different tactics employed to circumvent censorship while also addressing decolonisation. I illustrate the extent to which censorship is linked to colonialism via its desire to single out an ‘univocal’ language, fix meaning, categorise and essentialise human beings, thoughts and beliefs. Colonialism sought to control everyday experience and conceptions of time for capitalist and cultural gain, the plays in this thesis serve as examples of how artistic creation attempted to break away from these impositions. Theatre that attempted to briser les cadres was considered as a threat not only to the perpetuation of the colonial project but also to British and French conceptions of national identity and language.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Theater -- Censorship -- France -- History -- 20th century, Theater -- Censorship -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, Decolonization -- France -- History -- 20th century, Decolonization -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century
Official Date:	March 2021
Dates:	Date Event March 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Fraiture, Pierre-Philippe ; Wardhaugh, Jessica, 1976-
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	232 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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