Althusser's Ideological State Apparatuses in Sam Shepard's Buried Child

Abstract

    This research is going to benefit from Louis Althusser's idea of Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) with the objective of the analysis of cultural and mythic ideology, the economy and the American Dream, family relations, interpellation and resistance, along with the effect of religion and decency in Buried Child as Sam Shepard's famous dramatic production. Through the practice of Althusser's theory, this analysis scrutinizes the way in which ISAs are shown and work in the play, stressing the intense connection amid power, ideological control, and resistance in a dysfunctional family background. By exploring the multidimensional relations and scuffles between the characters, the significance of obscured mysteries and appalling retentions, and the themes of dishonor, silence, and revelation, this inspection divulges the in-built ideologies that impact individual subjectivities and societal structures in Shepard's play. In conclusion, the article desires to argue the ways in which Althusser's pattern of ISAs transports a valued agenda for distinguishing the sophisticated system of ideological effects at play in Buried Child