Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - Lenke Németh: Academia as a Carnivalized Space: A Bakhtinian Reading of David Mamet's Oleanna

LENKE NÉMETH ACADEMIA AS A CARNIVALIZED SPACE: A BAKHTINIAN READING OF DAVID MAMET'S OLEANNA Conversational dissonance manifest in the characters' disjointed utterances and pauses to chart their innermost conflicts as well as a recurrent concern with the corrupt world of American business have become David Mamet's trademarks since his first major success with American Buffalo in 1975. Business appears to be a congenial site into which Mamet projects all his worries, concerns, and criticism about an America that is portrayed as falling apart. In the space and context of business, he can address nearly all the themes he has been haunted by: corruption and venality in business, the degradation of the business ethic into deception and betrayal, the decline of American values, the decay of American idealism, the loss of the American Dream and of the frontier spirit, urban alienation, the communication breakdown between people, and the discordant relationship between men and women. On the face of it, Mamet's highly provocative and controversial play Oleanna (1992) explores a student-teacher relationship, the consequences of ineffective teaching, and the issue of sexual harassment in the context of American higher education. Apparently, this pedagogical environment is a far cry from the world of cutthroat competition in the business world powerfully portrayed by Mamet in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross (1993) and Speed-thePlow (1997), the latter dealing with the corrupt Hollywood film industry. In my reading, however, Oleanna could easily be aligned with Mamet's previous "business plays." My assumption is that the 237