Playwrights fightback: dramatizing anti-trafficking narratives in John Godber’s Sold using Foucault’s transgression

Human trafficking is still an ongoing, vicious crime committed against humans worldwide. Many studies investigated the different narratives employed in the process of human trafficking. However, the investigation of the anti-trafficking narrative in John Godber’s Sold has yet to be conducted. Thus, this article examines the narrative of trafficking women in Sold in light of Gayle Rubin’s concept of “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the Political Economy of Sex,” which explains why this heinous crime targets women. Then, it examines the anti-trafficking narrative introduced by the playwright in his Sold, in light of Foucault’s concept of Transgression. The article conducts a textual analysis, enhanced by the assumptions of the two frameworks, to investigate the trafficking narratives and their anti-trafficking narratives in the selected text. It comes up with two narratives used to traffic women in the text: the first is the trafficking for sexual purposes, and the second is the forced labor, both of which acted on the trafficked victim, Anja. Consequently, it concludes that the anti-trafficking narrative is released with the help of transgression through the character of Ray, who defies the common narratives of trafficking when he risks the unity of his family to save a victim of trafficking. The playwright effectively conveys an anti-trafficking narrative that seeks to shift readers’ perspectives on their responsibility in rescuing trafficking victims and eradicating this inhumane crime.

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