Confronting Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire: Essays in Critical Pluralism

(Hardback)

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In this text, 15 scholars contribute original essays that analyse "A Streetcar Named Desire", one of the most significant plays in modern theatre, from various critical or cultural stances, methods, or modalities. Represented as individual points of view, or touched upon in the analysis, are the theories of Lacan and Foucault and the tenets of Marxism; the approaches of feminism, reader response criticism, deconstructionism, chaos and anti-chaos theory, translation theory, formalism, mythology, perception theory, and gender theory; and the perceptions of popular culture, film history and theory, Southern letters, and assorted cultural and regional studies. The introduction charts the course of "Streetcar" criticism from its inception to the present. Each essay begins by articulating the theoretical principles and methods behind the critical approach pursued, then applies these to readings from "Streetcar", utilising and documenting relevant major research. The readings, individually and collectively, aim to advance the study of the play and Tennessee Williams's canon and reputation generally. Each essay offers a view of a play that has long been discussed in simplistic and dichotomised terms: Blanche as victim/Stanley as predator; "Streetcar" as a play about a failed southern belle meeting a brutish Pole; or "Streetcar" as a work of Southern literature. Viewing the play through the lenses of cultural and critical pluralism, the contributors open up the script and expand our awareness of the problems and possibilities offered by this modern classic.

Reviews

"Just when we thought everything worth saying about Streetcar had been said, along comes Kolin's collection. Not only do several of these essays illuminate Williams's classic play in unexpected and persuasive ways, they also demonstrate how some of the new theoretical approaches can usefully be applied to dramatic texts in general."-Thomas P. Adler Professor of English Associate Dean of Liberal Arts, Purdue University author of "A Streetcar Named Desire: The Moth and the Lantern"
"Philip Kolin has given us virtually a grand tour of contemporary literary theory in his superb collection of original critical essays. . . . Kolin's book is as close to being a definitive collection of critical, theoretical, and cultural approaches to Williams's most important play. . . . Anyone who is teaching or taking a course in critical theory or who is involved in theatre--or who simply likes reading about it--will find Kolin's richly layered book dramatic, convincing, and exciting."- Virginia Spencer Carr Chair, Department of English Georgia State University
"This is a distinguished sequel to critical essays on Streetcar published in 1971 and 1988. Unlike them, this collection comprises previously unpublished, cutting-edge applications of the most prominent theoretical and methodological stances of the last twenty-five years, providing contemporary readings of the play. . . . I strongly recommend this volume to anyone interested in contemporary criticism in general and in particular to students and scholars of American drama and the work of Tennessee Williams."- Don B. Wilmeth Professor of Theatre & English President, American Society for Theatre Research Brown University
.,."rich and often exciting, the new anthology is a stimulating and invigorating experience."-Modern Drama
...rich and often exciting, the new anthology is a stimulating and invigorating experience.-Modern Drama
[G]athers the essentials together is a single concise volume. Appropriate for some reference collections, this Encyclopedia is another one of those well crafted works that may be even more useful in circulation, or on private shelves. In any case, academic and public libraries should find it a worthwhile choice.-Against the Grain
Philip Kolin has moved A Streetcar Named Desire criticism light years from the old formalism of its earlier critics. Fifteen of the most accomplished scholars of modern drama explore the play from most of the major critical perspectives in vogue today: This eclectic collection of essays deserves applause because it places Streetcare criticism on the cutting edge of critical theory.-Theatre Survey
This distinguished collection creatively provides compelling reason to believe, as Irene Selznick did in 1947, that "Blanche is coming to stay with us."- World Literature Today
This is a valuable addendum to the flurry of books printed on him since his death....Advanced undergraduate; graduate, faculty.-Choice
We benefit enormously from Kolin's efforts in this collection, fifteen new essays focused on one play from a grand variety of perspectives.-The Southern Quarterly
"Gathers the essentials together is a single concise volume. Appropriate for some reference collections, this Encyclopedia is another one of those well crafted works that may be even more useful in circulation, or on private shelves. In any case, academic and public libraries should find it a worthwhile choice."-Against the Grain
..."rich and often exciting, the new anthology is a stimulating and invigorating experience."-Modern Drama
"[G]athers the essentials together is a single concise volume. Appropriate for some reference collections, this Encyclopedia is another one of those well crafted works that may be even more useful in circulation, or on private shelves. In any case, academic and public libraries should find it a worthwhile choice."-Against the Grain
"This distinguished collection creatively provides compelling reason to believe, as Irene Selznick did in 1947, that "Blanche is coming to stay with us.""- World Literature Today
"This is a valuable addendum to the flurry of books printed on him since his death....Advanced undergraduate; graduate, faculty."-Choice
"We benefit enormously from Kolin's efforts in this collection, fifteen new essays focused on one play from a grand variety of perspectives."-The Southern Quarterly
"Philip Kolin has moved A Streetcar Named Desire criticism light years from the old formalism of its earlier critics. Fifteen of the most accomplished scholars of modern drama explore the play from most of the major critical perspectives in vogue today: This eclectic collection of essays deserves applause because it places Streetcare criticism on the cutting edge of critical theory."-Theatre Survey

Author Bio

PHILIP C. KOLIN is Professor of English at the University of Southern Mississippi. His many books include Confronting Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire (Greenwood, 1993), Tennessee Williams: A Guide to Research and Performance (Greenwood, 1998) and The Tennessee Williams Encyclopedia (Greenwood, 2003).