Hibridni identitet queer Jevreja u drami Anđeli u Americi Tonija Kušnera

Abstract

The paper aims to present the way queer identity overlaps with the Jewish identity, thus creating a type of hybridity to be found in characters such as Louise Ironson and Roy Cohn in Kushner’s play Angels in America. The Otherness of these characters may be seen through their belonging to two different marginalized groups. Although seemingly completely different, both are depicted as constantly searching for their place in the world in an illusory battle for a stable identity. The so-called gay plague in the 1980’s in America contributed to the destabilization of America’s national identity, providing a voice to the ex-centric identities. Society is deconstructed in the midst of a crisis and the identity of the protagonists is simultaneously being built and torn down. The identity of the Other is constituted by the culture in charge, that is, the American white Christian culture. Their power is established through discourse, based on which they strip minorities of their power. A belief in binary oppositions is replaced with an overall hybridity, which may be seen in the characters, as well as the structure of the play itself. Kushner utilizes split scenes and double casting to present the hybridity of his play. The protagonists are driven by a utopian impulse and ideas of a unified nation. The paper will thus attempt to present the (im)possibility of achieving unity on the protagonists’ path to redemption and their search for an identity that is whole