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Mountain language by harold pinter
Mountain Language explores themes of meaninglessness and social protest in a prison representing an authoritarian state. The play is set in an unnamed prison holding prisoners for unnamed crimes against an unnamed state. Prison officials ban the prisoners' native language and cultural identity. Through absurdist elements and the breakdown of language and logic, Pinter illustrates the harsh realities of individual powerlessness and isolation within a repressive modern society.
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Mountain language by harold pinter
- 1. Mountain Language by HaroldPinter HALEH ESMAILIAN JAN. 2016
- 2. Opened officiallyat London National Theatre, in Oct. 20th,1988 Shocked with its stark look at Totalitarianism Evoked contrasting comments and reactions Shared his previous plays’ characteristics in structure and style Focused on a new subject matter Inspired by long history of oppression the Kurds suffered from, under the Turkish rule
- 3. The playis centered in a prison in controlled by unnamed guards in an unnamed country, holding prisoner some people for unnamed crimes against the unnamed state The prisoners and their visitors’ own language is banned by prison officials, not allowed to be spoken, like what the Turkish government did to the Kurds Blending Absurdism and Realism, Pinter illustrates : a. Harsh reality of modern society b. Individual’s powerless state and isolation within that society Tish Dace, in her article, in Reference Guide to English Literature, asserts that the play’s richness with its inscrutable motivations has made his name enter the critical lexicon to deal with these derivative Dramas, now termed as “ Pinteresque”
- 4. Born onOct. 30, 1930 in Hackney, East London he was the only child of a working class family Had a relatively happy childhood until the second world war initiated Terror in him during Germany’s air attacks on London Encountered problems growing up due to his Jewish heritage, like continuous Menace by Gangs
- 5. Role playedfor Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet in Grammar school Printed in Hackneys’ Downs school magazine, Essays on James Joyce and two poems, indicating the beginning of his distinctive style and talent In 1948 went on Acting in Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) Wrote poems, short prose pieces, Acted on stage and TV under the pseudonym of David Baron “ Insight in how successful the plays are constructed and a sharp ear for dialogues, are among things that the experience in Acting has earned for me.” , he once said in an interview
- 6. Started writingplays with one titled as The Room a one-act play for a friend’s student production, that succeeded in the process of production and inspired him to start a serious career as a playwright Soon after that plays like: . Birthday Party . Caretaker . Mountain Language Were born, earning with themselves many outstanding Awards for the playwright
- 7. The awardsinclude:
- 8. Act I: prison wall Act II : visitor’s room Act III : Voice in the Darkness Act IV : visitor’s room
- 9. Charley :the prisoner whose deep affections with Sara becomes evident during their talks about being reunited again, romantically He collapses in front of her towards the end of the play, which suggests that he has been tortured
- 10. Elderly woman:referred to as ‘mountain woman’ she has come to see her son Her kind and nurturing nature is revealed when bringing food to his son Or telling him every one is waiting for his return She ends the play with When at the end of the play her son tells her that their language is free to be spoken she no more is able to speak either for losing ability to do so or her son’s status that shocked her
- 11. The Guard Exhibits cruelty when on and on jabs the elderly woman with a stick Tries to justify his acts saying he has got responsibilities an a family But refuses to understand that he also has a family when the prisoner tells him so Instead, in an effort to punish him calls him a joker in his report to the officer
- 12. Sara Johnson: Charley’s wife Not a mountain woman Illustrates her compassionate nature trying to comfort the elderly woman with her bitten hand Reveals courage standing up several times to sergeant and officer Tells them it’s their right to see their men And is clever enough not to participate in none sense conversations started by the officer choosing to be silent at times
- 13. Hooded man(see Charley) Officer : in charge of the prison At times shows responsibilities and following reasonable guidelines but changes behavior very soon dissolving into meaningless conversations along with that of sergeants for instance about dog’s name He directs sergeant upon asking them for complaints but never goes on with them He admits Sara’s husband being in the ‘wrong batch’, but never questions his guilt
- 14. Hooded man(see Charley) Officer : he asserts authority for absurd rules that if the dog did not give his name he would be killed Tries to impose control over them, when asking the women to keep silent while they actually are silent
- 15. The prisoner: He illustrates compassion when showing care about his mother’s torn hand Or when trying to encourage the guard to remember brotherhood telling him, he also has a wife and three kids Being called a ‘joker’ by the guard and a bloody face at the end of the play results in his collapse in front of his mother which is a sign of experiencing a mental, emotional and physical shock due to witnessing his mother’s status and hopelessness
- 16. Second guard: Appears in the corridor holding Sara’s husband Sergeant : Exhibits cruelty and desire to power Repeatedly categorizes the prisoners as ‘s…houses’ Tries to demean Sara calling her an ‘f…intellectual’ Touches her saying ‘intellectual a…s wobble the best’
- 17. Tells Sarathat she ‘bounces with sin’ Professes that the ‘mountain language’ is forbidden by him but later on tries to play the role of a public servant by asserting he is the one who has engineered the law to let them speak their ‘mountain language’ But again reveals his true nature showing no care when the prisoner collapses in front of him saying: “ you get out of your way giving them a helping hand and they f…k it up.”
- 18. Young woman(see Sara) Notice:
- 19.
- 20. Meaninglessness: major theme Meaninglessnessis illustrated well through: Pinter’s adroit construction of the play Absurd Theatre-> Absurd World Nothing makes sense in that Absurd world of prison Prisoners are called ‘s…houses’ and ‘enemies of state’ But crimes are unnamed The narrative suggests only they’re being arrested for being ‘mountain people’ whose language is outlawed, But even when Charley is recognized not to be one of them and in a ‘wrong batch’, nothing is done to help…
- 21. Meaninglessness: major theme Meaninglessnessis illustrated well through: Pinter has shown the Existentialist vision of condition of man by-> deconstructing the traditional view of Rational Human in an Intelligible universe Characters keep questioning the rules there in search of a Logical Structure but They get thwarted on and on ‘cause there is no Logic in a system with NO Truth or Value
- 22. Meaninglessness: major theme Breakdownbetween Language & meaning-> meaninglessness Sara’s dialogues in order to convince them to treat the woman’s hand or get their rights or be allowed to reunite with their men-> Pointless Babble
- 23. Social protest: Through characterization& dramatic structure he presents :
- 24. Censorship: Stripping characters ofCultural Identity Calling their Language ‘Dead’ Dragging characters to the point of denial of sense of self Isolating each of them from the other by:
- 25. Sexual Abuse: Even afterrealizing Sara is from a different social class, not a ‘mountain woman’ to be controlled by them, This system has no intention of letting go & finds another way to exercise power over her mainly through: using language as a tool ~ identifying her as ‘f…intellectual’ ~ putting hands on her asking, ‘what language do you speak with you’re a…s?’ ~ undermining her status in prison hierarchy announcing her being full of sin so that she ‘bounces’ with it
- 26. RESISTANCE: SARA Triesto resist the officials’ authority by: • Questions & Silences • Insisting it’s her right to see Charley • Persuading them to treat elderly woman’s hand • Facing their repeated foolish questions about dog’s name she keeps silent to avoid participating in meaningless dialogues
- 27. Style - structure: Structure fragmented sense of isolation & alienation Like in Act I that centers on women, Sara attempts to engage with officials but reinforced with sense of alienation as does the fact that the scene ends before she or others reunite with their men
- 28. Style - structure: Structure fragmented sense of isolation & alienation Like in Act II that centers on elderly woman & her son we see broken communication between them which is reinforced in Act IV, where she is unable to regain her broken identity and can’t respond to her son who has also lost by then his self-identity sense and collapses
- 29. Style - structure: Structure fragmented sense of isolation & alienation Like in Act III the claustrophobic atmosphere of entire scene suggests that neither Sara nor her husband are not going to experience reuniting and can’t escape this fragmentation neither individually nor as a whole
- 30. Style - Language: Language unique use of language or Lack of it Most dialogues seem to make a little or no sense Communication breakdowns shows absurdity of their position
- 31. Historical context: Theatreof the Absurd: • Portrays specific vision of human condition • Rejects human rationality living in intelligible universe with logical structure • Shows striving characters who finally fail to find purpose and meaning in a world with no truth or value • Lacks conventional structure • Incorporate silence and miscommunication suggests Isolation & alienation • Loose plot hardly strung together as a series of fragmented scenes and disconnected images reflecting characters’ condition in life
- 32. Historical context: Repressionof the Kurds: • A minority of twenty five to thirty million people in a long conflict with Turkish government, heightened at the end of WWI, with Treaty of Versailles which gave the governments the right to rule over them • Tension rises in 1937, when Ata Turk decreed religious and non Turkish cultural expressions to be outlawed including the word ‘Kurd’
- 33. Historical context: Repressionof the Kurds: • A decade later schools, publications and organizations were banned • Reference to Kurdish regions were excluded from the maps • After the word ‘Kurd’ was outlawed, they were called ‘mountain Turks’ who had forgotten their language • Positions & landscapes & properties were also confiscated by the government
- 34. Historical context: Repressionof the Kurds: • Launched revolts appealing to cultural practices • Kurdish Leader fails to gather supports of all tribes • 1925, revolts are suppressed • 1930, harsher & more repressive measures are handed out • Results in being impoverished, culturally oppressed minority in Turkey
- 35. Historical context: Repressionof the Kurds: • In 1996 London Police arrests a group of 11 Kurd rehearsing Mountain Language, with plastic guns, taking hours to investigate the truth. • This event was interpreted by Pinter as:
- 36. Critical overview: Openingat National Theatre of London, in October 20th,1988 the play faced many controversial reviews: • Some praised it for compelling subject matter • Some found it “too political” In an overview of Pinter and his works in Contemporary Dramatists, Lois Gordon applauds plays’ ‘frightening images of Totalitarianism’
- 37. Critical overview: DouglasKennedy in his review of the play in New States Men & Society: “ the play is a highly condensed guided tour through state Tyranny represented through series of stark, rather atypical image of political repression.” He calls the play ‘ terribly predictable in its vision of state terror, therefor uncomfortably hollow’.
- 38. Spencer in hisreview of the Daily Telegraph: ‘sketchy’ ‘paranoid’ ‘self-righteous’ “ characters are types, not people, which shows that audience reaction is of huge concern rather than specific sympathy.” “ He attempts to make parallel worlds between play’s Totalitarianism and current government in Britain and his suggestion that Britain is indistinguishable from oppressive regimes is shrill and impertinent.”
- 39. Wendy Perkins Associate Prof.of English At Prince Georges College “ an effective mix of Realism & the Absurd “ “ Pinter’s works combine ‘Realism’ with elements of ‘the Absurd’ in effort to show The reality of Totalitarianism and the Meaninglessness of its Core.” “ The Result of this Combination then, would be: Compelling and Shocking Portrait of POLITICAL TERRORISM.”
- 40. Ronald Knowles In hisEssay Discusses Pinter’s famous ‘Name & language’ technique “ it’s assumed that the play is a barely veiled Critique of Turkey’s suppression of Kurds.” “ Pinter’s work however can be seen LTERALLY and METAPHORICALLY.” From a literal P.O.V audience is likely to make connection with Plight of Kurds. “ But Metaphorically it reminds of Brian Friel’s play of 1980, Translations, making the British audience recall the English Encroachment on Irish Language in 19th century. The play was well attended in Wales, where it’s not forgotten that England tried to prohibit the speaking of Welsh in the last century.”
- 41. Ronald Knowles In hisEssay Discusses Pinter’s famous ‘Name & language’ technique “ But through the performance of Mountain Language, Pinter as the director has created a particular feeling of uneasiness in the audience, by creating and exploiting a specific condition in their RECEPTION. A reception that has been familiar through British TV, with soldiers dressed up with regular battle fatigues; A reception exploited also by seeing the ‘foul-mouthed’ Sergeant who spoke with a strong London accent, on Pinter’s directed scenes.”