The Traumatic Re/Turn of History in Postmodern American Drama at the Turn of the 21st Century

Dr. Kornelia Slavova teaches American culture and literature at the Department of English and American Studies, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". She has also taught courses in American drama, literary theory and gender studies at the State University of New York at Albany, USA. Her publications are in the field of cross-cultural studies, gender studies, American drama, and popular culture. She has translated many plays by contemporary American playwrights for the Bulgarian stage. Currently she serves as associate editor of The European Journal of Women's Studies (SAGE Publications).

The Traumatic Re/Turn of History in Postmodern American Drama at the Turn of the 21st Century explores the traumatic enactments of diverse historical events in the art of Suzan-Lori Parks, Anna Deavere Smith, Eve Ensler, Doug Wright, and Tony Kushner. Working at the intersection of trauma theory and postmodern (anti)aesthetics, the book traces how these prominent playwrights have boldly questioned "the death" of history and have resurrected it through the communicative potential of traumatic witnessing in the theatre. The study argues that the traumatic "turn" in the end-of- millennium American drama is not a sign of cultural impoverishment or exhaustion in late postmodernity but a form of transformative critique to demythologize and desentimentalize the popular understanding of history.