| Home |
 |
Drama |
|
David Henry Hwang |
|
 |  |  |  |
Despite the relative slightness of his output thus far, the richness of Hwang's work for the theater admits of a number of critical approaches, including the SOCIOLOGICAL, in terms of the clash of eastern and western cultures, often in the same individual, as well as his frequent (and usually satirical) treatment of such themes of materialism and religious revivalism; and the HISTORICAL, to further illuminate the backgrounds of such texts as M. Butterfly, "The Dance and the Railroad" and "The Sound of a Voice." This last play, like others of Hwang's works, is also interesting for its FORMAL characteristics, its PSYCHOLOGICAL explorations of its principal characters, and its treatment of the man-woman interaction (GENDER studies) that lies at the heart of the drama. Given his wealthy and Christian background, Hwang has been criticized as unrepresentative of the Asian-American experience; such demographic carping aside, it is undeniable that he is an significant spokesman for a group whose often uneasy interaction with American society is a story that still awaits its full narration.
|