Time Schedule:
Sarah Bryant-Bertail
DRAMA 585
Seattle Campus
Major problems in dramatic theory, such as aesthetics, mimesis, and the nature of theatre.
Class description
This class concentrates on the practices and politics of intercultural theater and theater anthropology, in the light of the postcolonial critique. We will focus on theater and its history at the cross-currents between Western theater and the classical theaters of India, China, Japan, and Bali, as well as the cross-current with Pacific Northwest Native American performance. Reading matter will include plays, theoretical essays, and descriptive analyses of theater and ritual performances. We will also see films and live productions whenever possible.
Investigative questions will be aimed at anthropology, theater studies, and performance studies, and will include methodological, historical, aesthetic, philosophical, ethical, and political issues, including the following questions: In the past, how have Euroamericans approached other cultures, plays and performance traditions and vice versa? With what effects? What has qualified and not qualified as evidence and why? How has evidence been gathered? What cultural assumptions inform each particular performance event? What are the stakes and responsibilities of researching and performing intercultural theater and the theater of Native Americans? Is Western borrowing from non-Western theater an instance of Orientalism in the hegemonic sense defined by postcolonialism: the theatrical staging of another culture in order to reduce it to a mystified, exoticized, often feminized object/other that only strengthens the identity of the majority culture? Or can theater, through this borrowing, respond to the call for a multicultural, internationalist “celebration of difference”? What are the epistemological terms and political effects of such borrowings?
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Oral reports and final papers will overtly deal with the key issues above, as well as providing well researched examples of specific theater or performance events or practices. Papers should be 18-20 pages in MLA or Chicago format. 1-page (ca. 300 word) abstracts of final papers are due by week 7. Oral presentations may be solo (ca. 20-30 minutes) or with a partner (40 minutes-1 hour), and may be on any work on the syllabus or related to a work on the syllabus. Presenters should prepare a class handout (6-7 pages total is average) that includes a clear outline of key issues and an up-to-date bibliography (ca. 2 pages). The course is intended to be a seminar, so my lectures will be fairly short to allow time for student discussion and questions. Thorough preparation should be reflected in your participation in class discussion.
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
