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Intersectional Oppression in Clybourne Park

  • Journal of Modern English Drama
  • Abbr : JMBARD
  • 2021, 34(3), pp.65-86
  • Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
  • Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama
  • Received : November 14, 2021
  • Accepted : December 10, 2021
  • Published : December 31, 2021

LEE SOMIN 1

1충북대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper explores intersectionality in Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park by focusing on the oppression structure over 50 years. In Act One, the Youngers, a black family in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, moves to the white middle-class neighborhood of Clybourne Park in 1959. Set in the same house in 2009, Act Two shows a white family moving into the black community. While the ownership of the house moves from one race to the other, the play represents the interrelated power structures caused by not only race but also gender, class, sexuality, and even disability. All the characters get suppressed and alienated from one another at the point where theses identities intersect, finally causing conflicts and disputes about discrimination. To investigate the structure of intersectional oppression, this paper explains the intersectionality theory and the concept of “matrix of domination. ” Patricia Hill Collins has defined intersectionality with the notion of “matrix of domination, ” which refers to the four domains that organize power structure in society, especially to black women who are doubly oppressed by both race and gender. It is also argued that the oppression structure has been changed in Act Two and that the debate over political correctness exacerbates marginalization.

Citation status

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