Md. Joynul Abedina* and Suzana Muhammadb
aSchool of Humanities, USM, Penang, Malaysia & Department of English, USTC, Chattogram, Bangladesh, abedin@ustc.ac.bd
bSchool of Humanities, USM, Penang, Malaysia, szna@usm.my
*Corresponding author
Abstract: August: Osage County (2007) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American drama by Tracy Letts that depicts an insightful picture of family relationships in the contemporary American cultural milieu. This study identifies dysfunctional dynamics in the family from an American psychiatrist Murray Bowen’s concept of triangling in family systems theory (FST). It analyses the complexities of the social-cultural life thrust in contemporary society, which initiates the fissure of the family relationship. Employing the thematic analysis method of Braun and Clarke (2006), this study examines the structure of family dynamics through the lens of triangling in FST. The Bowenian concepts anxiety, relationship dyads, and differentiation of self has been interpreted in the play to demonstrate the deteriorating family bind in August (2007).
Keywords: American play, dyad, anxiety, FST, family dysfunction
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