Sarah Kane’s Blasted (1995) is a play that confronts audiences with extreme violence, bodily destruction, and trauma. This study explores how Kane draws on Julia Kristeva’s theory of the abject and Bertolt Brecht’s verfremdungseffekt to challenge theatrical conventions and force spectators into an uncomfortable space between emotional immersion and critical distance. Kristeva defines the abject as what disturbs the boundary between self and other, forcing individuals to confront what they reject to maintain identity. Blasted presents numerous abject moments such as rape, physical disintegration, and cannibalism where bodily and moral boundaries collapse. Ian, initially a figure of control, is stripped of power, his body is mutilated and consumed. The dead baby, an unburied and decaying form, embodies abjection in its most direct sense. Kane disrupts any clear distinction between civilization and savagery, exposing violence as an inherent part of human existence. These images unsettle audiences, not only through their shock value but by revealing the fragility of the human condition. At the same time, Kane employs Brecht’s alienation effect to resist passive identification. The abrupt shift from realism to surreal war imagery fractures the play’s narrative, preventing emotional catharsis. Characters do not fit into clear moral categories. Ian, one of the protagonists, is both a perpetrator and a victim and despite his military background, he is also traumatized. The play denies resolution, leaving audiences in a state of discomfort. This Brechtian distancing forces viewers to see violence not as an isolated act but as a systemic condition, linking personal abuse to the horrors of war. By merging Kristeva’s abject and Brecht’s alienation, Kane creates a theatre of confrontation and immerses audiences in horror yet refuses them the relief of resolution. The play’s combination of visceral impact and intellectual detachment makes it not just a depiction of violence, but a critique of the structures that sustain it. Ultimately, Kane uses theatre as a space where horror and analysis collide, ensuring that the audience cannot look away but also cannot fully absorb what they have seen.
Hasan Emre ERGÜN (Wed,) studied this question.