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Research Paper | Humanities | Iraq | Volume 11 Issue 2, February 2022

Orality in The Seven Stages of Grieving by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Milman

Raffl Hazim Mohsin | Thamir R. S. Az-Zubaidy

Abstract: The 7 Stages of Grieving (2001), employs storytelling as a bridge to link the past with the present and celebrate the cultural heritage and oral traditions of Aboriginal peoples. It conveys the playwrights? aims to represent and demonstrate stories of grief and loss by addressing not only Aboriginal audience but also non-Aboriginal society. I read the play as a medium to share histories and emphasis on orality as a means of dispelling suffering in a society marked by strong oral culture. Drawing on the dynamic aspect of oral utterances and discourse according to Walter J. Ong?s Orality and Literacy (2002) and Helen Tiffin?s Post-Colonial Literatures and Counter-Discourse, I contend that the play illustrates orality in Aboriginal text through an oral performance. Also I argue that by using oral performance, the play can be read as a discourse of resistance. The stories of different characters related by The Woman represent stories of her family members and people directly addressed to the audience.

Keywords: Post-Colonial Literature, The 7 Stages of Grieving, cultural heritage, Aboriginal peoples, non-Aboriginal society, oral culture

Edition: Volume 11 Issue 2, February 2022,

Pages: 794 - 796