WHAT IS DRAMA?
Dr. Erika Paterson, English 226/ UBC 2008
Of all the forms of artistic expression that any given culture may explore, drama is perhaps the most complex and elusive. We know drama takes place on the pages of texts, on stages and on screens; we know that drama involves human interaction and emotions that can be comic or tragic. And indeed, our daily lives are full of drama, not only on the screens we watch or the stories we read and tell, but also in the special and mundane rituals we attend to, from weddings right down to our daily commute. Drama obviously plays a major role in our day to day lives. With this class I want to provoke you and inspire you to think seriously about ‘drama’ in context with our day to day lives. What is drama? How does ‘drama’ work? Why are we so drawn to drama?
We will begin by reading Victor Turner, one of the most fascinating anthropologist of the 20th century, who will introduce you to ideas about the relationships between ritual and drama. We will look at what drama has been in the past for a number of playwrights (Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Jarry, Chekov), we’ll explore their theatres and see how ‘drama’ has been housed and moved between civic festivals and fancy theatres, sometimes outlawed or ‘kicked out into the street,’ other times confined to ‘closets.’ We will look at what drama is today and we’ll ask questions about what drama is becoming.
Assignments:
Class participation & Collaboration 30%
Presentation/Workshop: 30%
Final Exam: 40%
Please follow the links in the side bar to see our course schedule, assignment guidelines, reading list and resources.
There is a FIVE DOLLER wiki fee for this course.
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