‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska
Harold Pinter’s one-act play A Kind of Alaska (1982) stages Deborah, a woman who wakes up after twenty-nine years of coma, along with her doctor and sister. Her presence on stage in her hospital bed inevitably raises the question of the perception of the diseased body: her body is exposed, made audi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Études Britanniques Contemporaines |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/3762 |
| _version_ | 1818506091361730560 |
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| author | Adeline Arniac |
| author_facet | Adeline Arniac |
| author_sort | Adeline Arniac |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Harold Pinter’s one-act play A Kind of Alaska (1982) stages Deborah, a woman who wakes up after twenty-nine years of coma, along with her doctor and sister. Her presence on stage in her hospital bed inevitably raises the question of the perception of the diseased body: her body is exposed, made audible and visible. This exposure is striking because it unveils the body in its materiality, underlining the dispossession caused by our embodiment, the lack of control over our own bodies, and our inevitable subjection to ageing and possible diseases. Exposing the materiality of the body is thus a way to reveal its vulnerability and acts as a reminder that we are all potentially dependent. This forced surrender of total control actually initiates a re-evaluation of the notions of exposure and dispossession: exposure becomes a necessary way to acknowledge the presence of the other beyond any attempts at understanding him/her through language or knowledge. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:59:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d63a77e595034210a03c371efd49c855 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1168-4917 2271-5444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T21:59:48Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Études Britanniques Contemporaines |
| spelling | doaj.art-d63a77e595034210a03c371efd49c8552022-12-22T01:31:56ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeÉtudes Britanniques Contemporaines1168-49172271-54442017-10-015310.4000/ebc.3762‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of AlaskaAdeline ArniacHarold Pinter’s one-act play A Kind of Alaska (1982) stages Deborah, a woman who wakes up after twenty-nine years of coma, along with her doctor and sister. Her presence on stage in her hospital bed inevitably raises the question of the perception of the diseased body: her body is exposed, made audible and visible. This exposure is striking because it unveils the body in its materiality, underlining the dispossession caused by our embodiment, the lack of control over our own bodies, and our inevitable subjection to ageing and possible diseases. Exposing the materiality of the body is thus a way to reveal its vulnerability and acts as a reminder that we are all potentially dependent. This forced surrender of total control actually initiates a re-evaluation of the notions of exposure and dispossession: exposure becomes a necessary way to acknowledge the presence of the other beyond any attempts at understanding him/her through language or knowledge.http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/3762A Kind of AlaskaHarold Pinterdispossessionexposuredramavulnerability |
| spellingShingle | Adeline Arniac ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska Études Britanniques Contemporaines A Kind of Alaska Harold Pinter dispossession exposure drama vulnerability |
| title | ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska |
| title_full | ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska |
| title_fullStr | ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska |
| title_short | ‘I was simply obeying the law of the body’: Dispossession and Exposure of the Vulnerable Body in Harold Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska |
| title_sort | i was simply obeying the law of the body dispossession and exposure of the vulnerable body in harold pinter s a kind of alaska |
| topic | A Kind of Alaska Harold Pinter dispossession exposure drama vulnerability |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/ebc/3762 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT adelinearniac iwassimplyobeyingthelawofthebodydispossessionandexposureofthevulnerablebodyinharoldpintersakindofalaska |