ABSTRACT

This essay introduces the new term “sit-trag” or situation tragedy (similar to and different from “sit-com”, i.e. situation comedy) as a development in postmodern drama, Sam Shepard's in particular. It defines the playwright's work as sit-trag by discussing the spiritual yearning which appears in Christian terms throughout the canon, from the early Cowboy Mouth to the more recently published States of Shock. The abrogation of salvation is inevitable in each play and functions structurally as well as thematically as his dramatic form.