Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century

This paper explores the controversy around two contemporary American plays by acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally, Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991) and Corpus Christi (1998). By detailing the ways these two plays were attacked by politicians and conservative religious groups, it becomes apparent...

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Main Author: Xavier Lemoine
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Rennes 2013-11-01
Series:Revue LISA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5533
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author Xavier Lemoine
author_facet Xavier Lemoine
author_sort Xavier Lemoine
collection DOAJ
description This paper explores the controversy around two contemporary American plays by acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally, Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991) and Corpus Christi (1998). By detailing the ways these two plays were attacked by politicians and conservative religious groups, it becomes apparent that censorship is still at the heart of American democracy as is manifested by the ferocious debates around free speech as a result of the conservative revolution. Attitudes to homophobia then appeared to be a litmus test for free speech. The reception of these plays also highlighted the inner mechanism of censorship as a productive discourse that entails the risk of suppressing the artistic distance that provides a dissenting voice and a necessary criticism of the human condition.
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spelling doaj-art-3544ba72f2c8474bb6f36362590dfefa2025-01-06T09:03:16ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532013-11-011110.4000/lisa.5533Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th CenturyXavier LemoineThis paper explores the controversy around two contemporary American plays by acclaimed playwright Terrence McNally, Lips Together, Teeth Apart (1991) and Corpus Christi (1998). By detailing the ways these two plays were attacked by politicians and conservative religious groups, it becomes apparent that censorship is still at the heart of American democracy as is manifested by the ferocious debates around free speech as a result of the conservative revolution. Attitudes to homophobia then appeared to be a litmus test for free speech. The reception of these plays also highlighted the inner mechanism of censorship as a productive discourse that entails the risk of suppressing the artistic distance that provides a dissenting voice and a necessary criticism of the human condition.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5533discourserepresentationcensorshipreceptionTheatergay
spellingShingle Xavier Lemoine
Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
Revue LISA
discourse
representation
censorship
reception
Theater
gay
title Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
title_full Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
title_fullStr Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
title_full_unstemmed Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
title_short Censorship or the Limits of Representation in Terrence McNally’s Gay Theatre at the End of the 20th Century
title_sort censorship or the limits of representation in terrence mcnally s gay theatre at the end of the 20th century
topic discourse
representation
censorship
reception
Theater
gay
url https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/5533
work_keys_str_mv AT xavierlemoine censorshiporthelimitsofrepresentationinterrencemcnallysgaytheatreattheendofthe20thcentury