A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots

Among the political playwrights of the post-war British drama, Trevor Griffiths is known for his commitment to socialist ideals and his continuous search for an ideal social(ist) structure in his works. Coming from a working-class background and having met many notable intellectual socialists prior...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Özlem Özmen Akdoğan
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Istanbul University Press 2022-12-01
Series:Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/CD6748D008994A11A43BB9C4D9E94AC5
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849313850320486400
author Özlem Özmen Akdoğan
author_facet Özlem Özmen Akdoğan
author_sort Özlem Özmen Akdoğan
collection DOAJ
description Among the political playwrights of the post-war British drama, Trevor Griffiths is known for his commitment to socialist ideals and his continuous search for an ideal social(ist) structure in his works. Coming from a working-class background and having met many notable intellectual socialists prior to his dramatic career, Trevor Griffiths dedicated his playwriting to debate about the present and future of socialism in Britain and elsewhere. Despite Griffiths’s loyal attachment to socialism, his works provide a criticism of the left, left-wing parties, lack of unity among the proletariat, and lack of support and cooperation of the leftist parties in his country. The Party (1973) is one of those plays in which he provides a dialectical approach to an ideal understanding of socialism that is based on unity between the workers, the party as an organisation and the intelligentsia. Griffiths’s main concern is to lay out some of the reasons for the failure of the left and claim that a true socialist revolution can never be possible unless a commitment is achieved by all involved parties. This paper discusses socialist Trevor Griffiths’s play The Party as a criticism of the left in relation to prevalent concerns of Britain in the 1970s. While evaluating the reasons for Griffiths’s criticism, the discussion of the play is also related to the Paris student riots as a casein-point failed socialist revolution attempt due to similar problems Griffiths observes in his country.
format Article
id doaj-art-eef12051e4714df596ec52c2952dbe97
institution Kabale University
issn 2602-2117
language deu
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher Istanbul University Press
record_format Article
series Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
spelling doaj-art-eef12051e4714df596ec52c2952dbe972025-08-20T03:52:38ZdeuIstanbul University PressLitera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi2602-21172022-12-0132258760010.26650/LITERA2021-998084123456A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student RiotsÖzlem Özmen Akdoğan0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3432-8621Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi, Mugla, TurkiyeAmong the political playwrights of the post-war British drama, Trevor Griffiths is known for his commitment to socialist ideals and his continuous search for an ideal social(ist) structure in his works. Coming from a working-class background and having met many notable intellectual socialists prior to his dramatic career, Trevor Griffiths dedicated his playwriting to debate about the present and future of socialism in Britain and elsewhere. Despite Griffiths’s loyal attachment to socialism, his works provide a criticism of the left, left-wing parties, lack of unity among the proletariat, and lack of support and cooperation of the leftist parties in his country. The Party (1973) is one of those plays in which he provides a dialectical approach to an ideal understanding of socialism that is based on unity between the workers, the party as an organisation and the intelligentsia. Griffiths’s main concern is to lay out some of the reasons for the failure of the left and claim that a true socialist revolution can never be possible unless a commitment is achieved by all involved parties. This paper discusses socialist Trevor Griffiths’s play The Party as a criticism of the left in relation to prevalent concerns of Britain in the 1970s. While evaluating the reasons for Griffiths’s criticism, the discussion of the play is also related to the Paris student riots as a casein-point failed socialist revolution attempt due to similar problems Griffiths observes in his country.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/CD6748D008994A11A43BB9C4D9E94AC5trevor griffithssocialismleft-wingthe partyparis student riots
spellingShingle Özlem Özmen Akdoğan
A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
Litera: Dil, Edebiyat ve Kültür Araştırmaları Dergisi
trevor griffiths
socialism
left-wing
the party
paris student riots
title A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
title_full A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
title_fullStr A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
title_full_unstemmed A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
title_short A Criticism of the British Left in Trevor Griffiths’s The Party in Light of ’68 Paris Student Riots
title_sort criticism of the british left in trevor griffiths s the party in light of 68 paris student riots
topic trevor griffiths
socialism
left-wing
the party
paris student riots
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/CD6748D008994A11A43BB9C4D9E94AC5
work_keys_str_mv AT ozlemozmenakdogan acriticismofthebritishleftintrevorgriffithssthepartyinlightof68parisstudentriots
AT ozlemozmenakdogan criticismofthebritishleftintrevorgriffithssthepartyinlightof68parisstudentriots