“Portmanteau: A Play in Three Acts,” and “Found in Space: Aspects of the Culture, Identity and Literature of Third Culture Individuals (Third Culture Kids).”

Abstract

We live in a transitional time when notions of cultural identity are being challenged by the lived experience of increasing numbers of people. No longer is it sufficient (or even possible) for many people to identify themselves as belonging to a specific culture or place. This is particularly true of people who experience significant global mobility during childhood, who are known as Third Culture Individuals (TCIs) and Third Culture Kids (TCKs). The majority of the research into TCK identity has been carried out by researchers in the social sciences. There is scant research into the literature of writers who grew up as Third Culture Kids, with a specific focus on their TCK identity, and none so far which examines the work of dramatists, who are the focus of this study. The exegesis firstly outlines the evolution of the idea of the “Third Culture Kid,” and how it intersects with other ideas of “Third Space” and “Thirdness.” Secondly, based on research into, and the testimony of, TCKs and TCIs, the characteristics which emerge from this cross-cultural upbringing are explored as a basis for reflecting on the lives and works of Third Culture writers. These are writers who challenge existing literary categories. They do not fit easily into national literatures and many of them write in multiple genres. The particular focus is on works for theatre by Tom Stoppard, Eugène Ionesco, Thornton Wilder, Ariel Dorfman, Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig and Carmen Aguirre. With reference to the writers’ own words, to existing literary criticism and to a close reading of the early work of each writer, a Third Culture literature rubric emerges, which throws up many themes and perspectives which can contribute to future studies into the literature of Third Culture Individuals.