Hegemonic Analysis in the play Ishtar in Baghdad

Abstract

 In this research paper,Gramsci's analysis of hegemony thus involves an analysis of the ways in which such capitalist ideas are disseminated and accepted as common-sensical and normal. In terms of the play by Ishtar in Baghdad, he has also discussed that the hegemony of CIA and the American forces can so far be seen in the jail by the behaviour they had with the Iraqi prisoners. In the play, Fadhil has also suggested a more enduring aspect of Iraqi culture which has rooted in an ancient past. She also has advanced the point that the nation of Iraq will outlast the passing cruelty of foreign invaders and one day they will recover the splendor of ancient Mesopotamia.
On the other hand, Gramci’s theory of hegemony also defines the way power is misused today and back in times by taking an example of the play of Rasha Fadhil. The never ending power of West and the level of atrocities they committed in the jail can never be forgotten. The hegemony theory has underlined the Western glaze where the West has misused its powers by manipulating the image of other under developing nations as it has happened in the play. The killing of Manadel al-Jamadi provides us a clear picture of the history long over-dominance of Western powers on the vulnerable nations (Al-Azraki,2017).