Journal Article

Humor as a Weapon In Contemporary Canadian Theatre

Hassanin, Shaimaa Mohamed Mohamed

2023

Overview

Although many critics evaluate Native humor as a mirror reflecting Native traditions or marking it as always subversive, Native writers frequently use humor to deal with sensitive social tensions and paradoxes. The writers may oscillate between confirming and criticizing divisive beliefs, classifications, and identities became of humor's regulating and disordering effects on their writings. This paper investigates Native humor as a social practice developed out of cultural and historical circumstances that enable Native people to confront change while retaining a feeling of consistency and flexibility. In Native writings, originality, identity, and social concerns are frequently brought up in humorous behaviors. Humor challenges narrow conceptions of \"Naiveness\" while enabling Native people to keep a sense of self. For instance, \"the white man\" satires enable writers to interact with and challenge the dominant society. The idea of authentic identity is both undermined and supported by humorous images of racial and ethnic hybridity. The Rez Sisters, first performed by Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto in 1986, and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, first presented at Theatre Pass Muraille in Toronto in 1989, marked the theatrical debuts of Canadian Native playwright Tomson Highway on both the domestic and international stages. At the time, both pieces received overwhelmingly positive reviews, making Highway the focus of the Canadian theatre community. Both plays received the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award, given to Canadian plays performed professionally in the Toronto region, as well as the Dora Mavor Moore Award for an Outstanding New Play (1988-1989).

• Publisher: جامعة أسيوط - كلية الآداب
• Subject: الأدب الكندي / الحس الفكاهي / الفن المسرحي