@article{ART003236607},
author={Choi Seok Hun},
title={The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2025},
volume={38},
number={2},
pages={219-243}
TY - JOUR
AU - Choi Seok Hun
TI - The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2025
VL - 38
IS - 2
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 219
EP - 243
SN - 1226-3397
AB - The essay focuses on the representation of the bar as a public space on modern and contemporary American stage. Unlike the home or workplace where relationships are based on kinship or hierarchical structures, the bar is open to everyone and characterized by horizontal relationships, making it an ideal venue for encounters and exchanges between people from diverse social backgrounds. Through the theoretical framework of public space proposed by American scholars Stephen Carr, Mark Francis, Leanne G. Rivlin, and Andrew M. Stone in their co-authored book Public Space (1992), the paper will examine spatial characteristics of the bar represented in William Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life (1939), Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh (1939) and A Touch of the Poet (written in 1942 but premiered posthumously in 1958), Charles Gordone’s No Place to Be Somebody (1969), Tennessee Williams’ Small Craft Warnings (1972), Herb Gardner’s Conversations with My Father (1992), and Lynn Nottage’s Sweat (2015). In the historical context of American theatre, which has been preoccupied with the private life of family, these plays reveal how the bar has operated as a ‘public’ space that promotes public life in the US, by allowing various members of society to enter freely, share their narratives, and form new ties with each other. Despite its limitations, the bars in these works present notable models of community and public engagement, positioning the theatrical stage itself as a rehearsal space for democratic life in America.
KW - drinking;public;democracy;meeting;interaction
DO -
UR -
ER -
Choi Seok Hun. (2025). The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage. Journal of Modern English Drama, 38(2), 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. 2025, "The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.38, no.2 pp.219-243.
Choi Seok Hun "The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage" Journal of Modern English Drama 38.2 pp.219-243 (2025) : 219.
Choi Seok Hun. The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage. 2025; 38(2), 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. "The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage" Journal of Modern English Drama 38, no.2 (2025) : 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage. Journal of Modern English Drama, 38(2), 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2025; 38(2) 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage. 2025; 38(2), 219-243.
Choi Seok Hun. "The Representation of the Bar as a Public Space on Modern and Contemporary American Stage" Journal of Modern English Drama 38, no.2 (2025) : 219-243.
