Representation of Middle Eastern masculinities in Canadian theatre

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dc.contributor.authorIsapour, Arash
dc.contributor.supervisorLindgren, Allana
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-27T21:13:13Z
dc.date.available2025-08-27T21:13:13Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Theatre
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy PhD
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation examines how Middle Eastern masculinities are constructed, disrupted, and contested in Canadian theatre, arguing that cultural representation is not merely a matter of narrative or character but is materially structured and ideologically mediated through dramaturgical form. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theories of identity and signification alongside Fredric Jameson’s analysis of cultural production under late capitalism, the study synthesizes two strands of cultural studies to explore how identity is simultaneously produced through representation and structured by historical contradictions embedded in aesthetic systems. Incorporating frameworks from masculinity studies and postcolonial critique, the dissertation offers a structural reading of six theatrical productions, revealing how dramaturgical strategies construct, destabilize, or reify stereotypes of Middle Eastern masculinities. Analyzing works that range from adaptations of Persian epics to collaborative political satires and testimonial solo pieces, the research demonstrates that masculinity is not simply portrayed but actively constituted through choices in genre, staging, visual logic, and narrative structure. It further argues that theatrical form functions as an ideological field, wherein representations of Middle Eastern masculinity unfold along a dramaturgical spectrum, from stereotypical portrayals shaped by abstraction, ambiguity or semiotic incoherence, which render identity susceptible to stereotyping, to historically grounded, formally coherent depictions that offer multi-layered, critical, and nuanced alternatives. The study develops a methodology for analyzing how stereotypes are staged, reinforced, or subverted in Canadian theatre, contributing to discourses in cultural and performance studies on stereotypical representation, to masculinity studies on the staging of non-hegemonic male identities, and to postcolonial scholarship on the aesthetic politics of multiculturalism.
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduate
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/22661
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Web
dc.subjectMiddle Eastern masculinities
dc.subjectCanadian theatre
dc.subjectPostcolonial dramaturgy
dc.subjectDiaspora performance
dc.subjectIntercultural theatre
dc.subjectHegemonic masculinity
dc.subjectStereotypical representation
dc.subjectMasculinity studies
dc.subjectIdentity politics
dc.subjectMulticultural performance
dc.subjectOrientalism
dc.subjectTheatrical form
dc.titleRepresentation of Middle Eastern masculinities in Canadian theatre
dc.typeThesis

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