A Cultural Materialist Reading of Martin Crimp’s Cruel and Tender: Crimp’s Approach to Ideology
Belgin Şakiroglu, Assist. Prof. Dr. Gordon John Ross Marshall

Abstract
In the 1990s a new movement rose up in British theatre. This new movement was termed In-Yer-Face by Alex Sierz. The boom of new play wrights’ attracted attention, censuring society from various angles in a very different style. Martin Crimp is an outstanding example of the contemporary play wrights who have gained recognition through their great contribution to British Drama since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Crimp’s theatre focuses on both political and cultural concerns reflected from the society in which he lives by writing characters who are deeply lineated from contemporary society. In his plays, there is no hero or a happy ending, so clearly does his pessimism of the value of social morals echo through his plays. This article attempts to explore the way of how Martin Crimp criticize the power system and his reflection of society by analyzing and discussing his play Cruel and Tender in the light of cultural materialism. Cultural Materialism advocates that society in which literary texts were produced is inseparable part of literary texts. In this sense, a text reflects the political and economic structures of society. This is why Cruel and Tender is deeply analyzed in relation to its historical framework. Crimp uncovers the meaningless reason of war, political oppression on individuals, political corruption, and how people are affected by ideologies.

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