T.C. ISTANBUL AYDIN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES THE CRITIQUE OF NEOLIBERALISM IN DAVID HARE’S PLAYS PhD THESİS Hakan GÜLTEKİN Department of English Language and Literature English Language and Literature Program Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. (Ph. D.) Ferma LEKESİZALIN June, 2018 ii T.C. ISTANBUL AYDIN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES THE CRITIQUE OF NEOLIBERALISM IN DAVID HARE’S PLAYS PhD THESİS Hakan GÜLTEKİN (Y1414.620014) Department of English Language and Literature English Language and Literature Program Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. (Ph. D.) Ferma LEKESİZALIN June, 2018 ii iv DECLARATION I hereby declare that all information in this thesis document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results, which are not original to this thesis. ( / /2017). Hakan GÜLTEKİN v vi FOREWORD I would like to express my appreciation to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ferma LEKESĠZALIN for her persistent encouragement, guidance, patience, and Dr. Ahmet Gökhan BĠÇER for his erudite comments and invaluable contribution. I am also indebted to Dr. Öz ÖKTEM and Dr. Gamze SABANCI UZUN for supporting me in Istanbul Aydin University days. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Mehmet TAKKAÇ for his suggestions. Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. Ġbrahim YEREBAKAN and Dr. Mesut GÜNENÇ, whose encouragements have been of particular note here. I am also grateful to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gillian Mary Elizabeth ALBAN, Dr. Hüseyin EFE, Dr. Arsev AyĢen ARSLANOĞLU YILDIRAN, Sercan ÖZTEKĠN and Florentina GÜMÜġ for their help during the creation phase of my thesis. The last but not the least, I should highlight my appreciation to Aybike and Kuzey, my wife and son, without whose caring support and motivational inspiration, the present study might not have been accomplished. June, 2018 Hakan GÜLTEKİN vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD ............................................................................................................ vii TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... ix ÖZET .......................................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. xiii 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The Historical Origins of Neoliberalism ............................................................ 5 1.2 The Dialectical Relationship between Neoliberalism and Literature ............... 19 1.3 History of Political Theatre in Britain .............................................................. 24 1.4 David Hare‘s Drama and Politics ..................................................................... 35 1.5 The Relevance of Materialism ......................................................................... 49 2. FROM NEOLIBERALISM TO NEW IMPERIALISM .................................. 63 2.1 Carving out a Path for War: Stuff Happens ...................................................... 63 2.2 Neoliberal Trauma in the Post 9/11 World: The Vertical Hour ....................... 84 3. DISSOLUTION OF SOCIAL INTEGRITY ..................................................... 97 3.1 Dissolution of Social and Political Solidarity via Privatization: The Permanent Way ......................................................................................................................... 97 3.2 Politics of Dispossession: Behind the Beautiful Forevers ............................. 115 4. CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS ................. 127 4.1 A Dramatist seeks whether a Sustainable and Clean Market Capitalism is Possible: The Power of Yes .................................................................................. 127 4.2 Cynicism of the Labour: Gethsemane ............................................................ 140 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 153 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 165 RESUME ................................................................................................................. 175 ix x DAVID HARE’İN OYUNLARINDA NEOLİBERALİZM ELEŞTİRİSİ ÖZET Bu çalıĢma, David Hare‘in oyunlarında neoliberalizmin önem durumunu keĢfetmeyi amaçlar. Herhangi bir edebi üretimin kendinden daha büyük ve karmaĢık bir sosyal yapıdan ayrı değerlendirilemeyeceği bilinciyle, bu çalıĢma Hare‘in seçili oyunlarında, yansıttıkları toplumsal yapıları ve 1970‘lerden beri dünya politika sahnesinde gözle görülür biçimde baskın olan neoliberal politikaları inceleyerek, diyalektik iliĢkileri gün yüzüne çıkarmayı amaçlar. Bu çalıĢma, diyalektik metodu kullanarak, oyunlar ve sosyo-politik bağlamları arasındaki birbirini etkileyen dizgelerin analizine değinir. Bu bağlamda, çalıĢmanın ardında yatan saik; ekonomik ve sosyal adaletsizliklere yoğunlaĢarak, David Hare‘in, batı toplumunun ve altında yatan toplumsal sözleĢmenin temel değerlerini yerle bir eden neoliberalizmi eleĢtirme kanallarını araĢtırmaktır. Analiz ve tartıĢma bölümlerinde, tez ilk olarak, yeni emperyalizm gibi politik çeĢitlenmelerine değinerek, Hare‘in neoliberalizmin tarihsel geliĢimini sahneye taĢımasını tartıĢır. Ġkinci olarak, neoliberalizm Hare‘in oyunlarında mülksüzleĢtirme ve özelleĢtirme politikalarını betimleyen tematik bir belirteç olarak incelenir. Sonuç olarak da, kurumların yozlaĢması, serbest pazar kapitalizmi ve emek hareketinin kinizm içinde bulunması açılarından tartıĢılır. Anahtar Kelimeler: David Hare, Neoliberalizm, Tiyatro, Yeni Emperyalizm, Mülksüzleştirme, Özelleştirme, Toplumsal Bütünlük xi xii THE CRITIQUE OF NEOLIBERALISM IN DAVID HARE’S PLAYS ABSTRACT This study aims at exploring the significance of neoliberalism in the selected plays written by David Hare. Acknowledging that any literary production cannot be examined without considering a bigger and more complex social structure, the study attempts to find out about the dialectical relationships among Hare‘s selected plays, the societies which they reflect and the neoliberal policies which have been perceptibly dominant in the world politics since 1970s. Using dialectical method, this study deals with the analysis of the interactive arrangements between the plays and their socio-political context. The impetus behind this study is therefore to investigate the ways in which David Hare critiques neoliberalism which destroys the foundational values of the western society and the social consensus lying in its base by deepening the economic and social injustices. In the parts of analysis and discussion, the thesis argues that, first; Hare presents the historical development of the neoliberalism by underlining its current political dimensions such as neo- imperialism. Second, neoliberalism is examined as a thematic marker in Hare‘s plays implying politics of dispossession and privatisation. Consequently, corruption of institutions is analysed in terms of legitimacy market capitalism and cynicism of the labour. Keywords: David Hare, Neoliberalism, Theatre, New Imperialism, Dispossession, Privatization, Social Integrity xiii xiv 1. INTRODUCTION This study investigates the critique of neoliberalism in David Hare‘s plays. The British playwright, Sir David Hare, is known for his long and distinguished writing career which consists of a remarkable number plays, television, and film-radio scripts. David Hare gives a unique place to cultural and political criticism of the British Institutions in his plays. From his early career days which coincide with the emerge of ―the angry young man movement‖ of post- war Britain, he depicts ―the contradictory trends of the nation and shares with his predecessors the idea of social and usefulness drama‖ (Boireau 2003: p.27). As regards with his personal and historical status as a dramatist, David Hare dramatizes the social disorders within the society and portrays them in a way that shows their dialectical bounds with culture, society, and ideology. In this context, it is not surprising that neoliberalism, dominating the world politics for nearly forty years, has a literary presence in Hare‘s drama. This thesis focuses on specific plays written in the core period of the neoliberal era. The plays are selected from the ones that are written in 2000s and include strong criticism of neoliberal policies which are considered to lead to a decline of neoliberalism. The plays under consideration are as follows: The Permanent Way (2003), Stuff Happens (2004), The Vertical Hour (2008b), Gethsemane (2008a), The Power of Yes (2009) and Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2014a). Acknowledging that any literary production cannot be examined without considering a bigger and more complex social structure, the study attempts to find out about the dialectical relationships among Hare‘s selected plays, the societies which they reflect and the neoliberal policies which have been perceptibly dominant in the world politics since 1970s. I therefore attempt to put David Hare‘s selected plays into their historical context and argue that the plays have a dialectical relationship with the society in which they were created. Using the dialectical method, I offer an analysis