Deconstructing “The Abyss of the Future:” Theatre
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
DECONSTRUCTING “THE ABYSS OF THE FUTURE:” THEATRE, PERFORMANCE, AND HOLES IN THE DISCOURSE OF 9/11 by Inga Meier BA in English and Theatre Arts, Rutgers University, 2003 MFA in Dramaturgy, Stony Brook University, 2007 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre History and Performance Studies University of Pittsburgh 2014 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Inga Meier It was defended on November 4, 2014 and approved by Attilio Favorini, PhD, Emeritus Professor Lucy Fischer, PhD, Distinguished Professor Kathleen George, PhD, Professor Dissertation Advisor: Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, PhD, Assistant Professor ii Copyright © by Inga Meier 2014 iii DECONSTRUCTING “THE ABYSS OF THE FUTURE:” THEATRE, PERFORMANCE, AND HOLES IN THE DISCOURSE OF 9/11 Inga Meier, M.F.A., PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2014 My dissertation examines the manner in which 9/11 has been formulated as a historical sequence of events in the United States through performance, theatre, architecture, film and photography. It has been repeatedly stated that the events of 9/11 have so completely permeated our collective consciousness as to render their narrative re-presentation, at best, ineffective, and, at worst, superfluous. Not only were the attacks pre-imagined in countless disaster films, but they were also deliberately orchestrated to maximize not so much the loss of human life, but, as Jean Baudrillard has argued, their symbolic effect. My dissertation argues the opposite, namely that the events themselves have been, from the beginning, relegated to the realm of the symbolic and that what we refer to as “9/11” is itself a narrative construction. Furthermore, I contend that in representing 9/11, a series of liminal space(s) opened up, at the intersection between the symbolic and the real exposing radical possibilities for the configuration of identity, nation and history. My project is to pry open these liminal spaces, to examine how 9/11 plays, film adaptations, select documentaries, and performances (construed broadly) engage the narrative of 9/11 outside of its conceptual framework. I ask: how might these works be understood as productive “holes in the discourse” (to draw on Julia Kristeva’s formulation of the True-Real) of 9/11? How do these works interrogate and challenge the terms and binaries which define positionality in the wake of 9/11 and how do they redistribute cultural capital? iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .................................................................................................................................... XI 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 CHAPTER ONE: THE DEMOCRACY OF DEATH – MEMORIALIZATION, NAMING THE DEAD, AND STAGING GROUND ZERO .................................................. 13 3.0 CHAPTER TWO: INTO THE ABYSS – THE FIRST 24 HOURS, 25TH HOUR, AND THE ENACTMENT OF ABSENCE ............................................................................... 64 4.0 CHAPTER THREE: “THE FALLING MAN,” NARRATIVE COHESION AND THE AVERTED GAZE ........................................................................................................... 119 5.0 CHAPTER FOUR: US VERSUS THEM – THE SELF THAT IS NOT “OTHER”……………………………………………………………………………………...176 6.0 EPILOGUE: TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, FRINGE, AND OMNIUM GATHERUM AS UTOPIAN PERFORMATIVES .................................... 218 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 245 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: “Pilot,” TSCC. ................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 2: “Pilot,” TSCC. ................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 3: "Pilot," TSCC. .................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 4: "Pilot," TSCC. .................................................................................................................. 2 Figure 5: "Gnothi Seauton," TSCC. ................................................................................................ 3 Figure 6: "Gnothi Seauton," TSCC. ................................................................................................ 3 Figure 7: "The Narrator that Ruined Christmas." ......................................................................... 16 Figure 8: National 9/11 Memorial, 2011. ..................................................................................... 29 Figure 9: National 9/11 Memorial, 2011. ..................................................................................... 29 Figure 10: Exterior wall of repository containing unidentified remains at National 9/11 Museum, 2014............................................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 11: Close-up of individual panels of exterior wall of repository containing unidentified remains at National 9/11 Museum, 2014. ..................................................................................... 32 Figure 12: Hand-painted memorial tiles on fence at Greenwich Ave. + Mulry Sq., 2013. .......... 33 Figure 13: Memorial tiles at Union Square Station, 2014. ........................................................... 33 Figure 14: "Missing" signs at the 9/11 Tribute Center, 2007. ...................................................... 35 Figure 15: "Missing" signs at the 9/11 Tribute Center, 2007. ...................................................... 35 vi Figure 16: The 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon, 2012. ................................................................. 38 Figure 17: 9/11 memorial bench at the Pentagon, commemorating Dana Falkenberg, 2012. ...... 38 Figure 18: Benches at the 9/11 Memorial in Shanksville, 2009. .................................................. 39 Figure 19: "Angels of Freedom" at the 9/11 Memorial in Shanksville, 2009. ............................. 39 Figure 20: The "Wall of Names" at the 9/11 Memorial in Shanksville, 2012. ............................. 40 Figure 21: "Memorial Hall" at the 9/11 Museum, 2014. .............................................................. 41 Figure 22: "Memorial Hall" at the 9/11 Museum, 2014. .............................................................. 42 Figure 23: Park 51, 2014. .............................................................................................................. 50 Figure 24: Park 51, 2014. .............................................................................................................. 50 Figure 25: Program from original 1963 production of The Brig. ................................................. 56 Figure 26: Set design by Julian Beck for 1963 production of The Brig. ...................................... 57 Figure 27: Die Hard. ..................................................................................................................... 67 Figure 28: Independence Day. ...................................................................................................... 67 Figure 29: Fight Club.................................................................................................................... 68 Figure 30: Donnie Darko .............................................................................................................. 68 Figure 31: Sex and the City. .......................................................................................................... 72 Figure 32: Sex and the City. .......................................................................................................... 72 Figure 33: The Sopranos ............................................................................................................... 72 Figure 34: Law and Order: SVU. .................................................................................................. 73 Figure 35: Law and Order: SVU. .................................................................................................. 73 Figure 36: The First 24 Hours...................................................................................................... 82 Figure 37: The First 24 Hours. ..................................................................................................... 82 Figure 38: The First 24 Hours. ..................................................................................................... 83 vii Figure 39: The First 24 Hours. ..................................................................................................... 84 Figure 40: 25th Hour. .................................................................................................................... 90 Figure 41: "Tribute in Light," 2011. ............................................................................................. 94 Figure 42: 25th Hour. .................................................................................................................... 96 Figure 43: 25th Hour. .................................................................................................................... 97 Figure 44: 25th Hour.