(Re)Making of Identity: A Socio-Cultural Analysis of David Mamet’s American Buffalo

Abstract

This article delves into the assertion of identity in David Mamet’s famous play American Buffalo. Mamet has revealed a rich variety of possible variations of identity in his creative opus, not only in the field of drama and theatre but also in the film, through the portrayal of a variety of different characters and situations. The identity will be discussed in his play as a unique cultural text outside of which there is nothing. America, its myths and contemporary cultural industry, its class, racial, and gender conflicts, and the author establish a mutual set of influences that help characters formulate their identities. By using Stuart Hall’s idea of identity in flux, this qualitative research explores the effects of industrialization on psychology, the concept of success of the people, and their identity in general. The change from ‘Who am I’ to ‘What do I have’ is the concern of the American people in this post-modern era so it has been given special focus. To some extent, the identity of the characters, if it means material success in his plays, is linked with the American Dream. The research also aims at the means i.e. language, lies, maltreatment, double-crossing, and cheating, the Mametian characters adopt to formulate their identity. The analysis shows that if identity means material success, they never succeed in making their identity. They keep on making, remaking, and re-remaking their identity proving that identity in the world of Mamet is in flux.