Oil and Modern World Dramas: From Petro-Mania to Petro-Melancholia

Oil and Modern World Dramas is a pioneering volume in Oil Literatures and Cultures, focusing on the (re-)presentations of oil in dramatic literature, theatre, and performance. It demonstrates how these works depict oil as an overdetermined matter/sign/object, a symbol of freedom, autonomy, speed, wealth, modernity, enlightenment, a commodity, a social-cultural agent, a social relation, and a hyper-object. The book's innovative and critically manifold conceptual framework posits the petro-literatures and petro-cultures as an inextricable part of a global network. It reveals how these works manifest these concepts in their social-political vision, aesthetics, and historical-ontological dynamics, and deploy assemblage-based approaches as a cartographical means and aesthetic method for exposing the systemic nature of petro-capitalist exploitation and proposing ways of resistance and producing alternative modes of subjectivity, community, relationality, and economy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

A groundbreaking work in the emerging field of Oil Literatures and Cultures, as well as the more established field of World Literatures, Oil and Modern World Dramas delves into the (re-)presentations of oil in dramatic literature, theatre, and performance. Through meticulous analysis, Fakhrkonandeh unveils how these dramatic works depict oil, encompassing its perceived nature and character, as an overdetermined matter/sign/object: a symbol of freedom, autonomy, speed, wealth, modernity, enlightenment, a commodity, a social-cultural agent, a social relation, and a hyper-object. This book stands out for its innovative and critically diverse conceptual framework, positing petro-literatures and petro-cultures as an integral part of a global network.

In addition to showcasing how the selected petro-dramas manifest these concepts in their social-political vision, aesthetics, and historical-ontological dynamics, Oil and Modern World Dramas also unveils how they employ such assemblage-based approaches as a cartographical means and aesthetic method for exposing the systemic (Capitalocenic) nature of petro-capitalist exploitation. Furthermore, it offers insights into proposing ways of resistance and developing alternative modes of subjectivity, community, relationality, and economy.

This pioneering volume contributes significantly to our understanding of oil's multifaceted representations and its profound impact on global cultures and societies. It provides valuable insights for scholars, researchers, and enthusiasts alike, paving the way for further exploration and analysis in this rapidly evolving field.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367682040