From Anti to Pro: An Imperious Non-Resistance to Heteronormativity in The Writer

Authors : Ayşegül AZAKLI

Pages : 36-48

Doi:10.46250/kulturder.1330438

View : 59 | Download : 39

Publication Date : 2023-09-10

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Heteronormativity, a sub branch of queer theory, has emerged as the legitimisation of heterosexual practices with privilege over sexual fluidity by various institutions. The unequivocal acceptance of heteronormativity embedded in society overshadows less-favoured sexual orientations, hindering these minority groups’ representation and reflection in society. Theatre as a form of art production serves as a medium to appreciate the diversity of sexual orientations by performing related plays on stage or, at least, giving voice to the concerns of individuals with so-called abnormal sexual tendencies. Still, heteronormativity subjugates to the end of appealing to the spectator, which is to be criticised by playwrights as in The Writer. In this metadrama, the power struggle between the female Writer with homosexual tendencies and the male Director with a conventional mindset induces turbulence and aggravates the communication between the two. Despite the Writer’s efforts to denaturalise heterosexuality through staging a homosexual scene in a mystic sphere, her attempt faces difficulties from the Director, and she finds her scene on stage in an implicitly heteronormative form. Hence, the imposition of gender binaries on the Writer’s lesbian couple displays how heteronormativity is embedded in the ending of both Hickson and the Writer’s plays and how it predominates the Writer’s deep convictions who has been opposing the heteronormative formations.
Keywords : heteronormativite, kuir, ataerkillik, Yazar, Ella Hickson