Mimesis, Agency, Subalternity: Irish and Caribbean Playboys in John M. Synge's and Mustapha Matura's Comedies

Master's Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, grade: 1,3, LMU Munich (Anglistik), language: English, abstract: Introduction The aim of the present thesis is to explore the relation between John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World and Mustapha Matura's Playboy of the West Indies and the different ways in which they treat the problem of the literary representation of marginal groups. The Playboy of the Western World claims in its preface to introduce authentic notions of the Irish peasantry. The Anglo-Irish image-maker's pretence of privileged knowledge of the peasants grants him the authority to represent them or, in a way, to speak on their behalf. Consequently, Synge's representation strives to acquire the status of its model by establishing itself as a truthful reconstruction of Irish life. In this way, the play controls and determines the image of the represented peasantry.