A Foucauldian Analysis of Power Distribution in David Mamet’s Faustus

Hajigholam, Mahya; Mohammadi, Nahid

doi:10.22051/lghor.2018.20204.1080

Document Type : Research article

Authors

Mahya Hajigholam ¹
Nahid Mohammadi ²

¹ MA student of English literature; Alzahra University

² Assistant professor of English literature, Alzahra University

https://doi.org/10.22051/lghor.2018.20204.1080

Abstract

Faustus has a long history in European literature although its origin is obscure. David Mamet, in a modern version of the old legend, presents a new perspective on the issues of power and truth. Michel Foucault, the influential post-structuralist historian and philosopher of the 20^th century, gives a novel insight into the nature of power relations and its manner of operation within human societies. In this sense, Foucault posits that power and knowledge are the same; moreover, power and resistance coexist in every social interaction. The current study aims to investigate the power relations in David Mamet’s Faustus in a Foucauldian framework. Faustus’s model of the periodic power offers a rigid paradigm to explain the mechanism of the world. Human will and resistance have no place in Faustus’s ideology. However, the study shows how Faustus gets disillusioned as he becomes aware of the hidden power relations functioning around him. It concludes that the significant role of truth and knowledge in power relations leads to the emergence of confession, reward, and punishment: discourses which entangle the individual in a complex web of power and resistance.

Keywords

20.1001.1.2588350.2018.2.1.3.6

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Journal of Language Horizons

A Foucauldian Analysis of Power Distribution in David Mamet’s Faustus

References

References

Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 3
January 2018
Pages 53-64

A Foucauldian Analysis of Power Distribution in David Mamet’s Faustus

References

References

Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 3January 2018Pages 53-64

Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 3
January 2018
Pages 53-64