Deconstructing the British Meta-Narrative

Applying postmodern theory to Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine may at first seem to be an obvious choice; indeed, the play almost begs to be examined using some of Jean- Francois Lyotard's theories first outlined in 1he Pos/modem Condition The text, spanning Britain's imperial past, postmodern present, and looking forward to a still uncertain future, tackles themes related to colonialism, male patriarchy, established gender and sexual roles, among many others. Through textual analysis and occasional references to previous research by A wam Amkpa and Laura Leigh Whitaker, this paper attempts to analyze the collapse of the British colonial meta- narrative from several different angles. It dissects the nation's dominant ideology from both the colonial and postcolonial viewpoints, as well as from the vantage point of subjectivity and how it relates to the fall of meta- narratives.