| CODE | ENG5068 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Shakespeare: Theory and Performance | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | English | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | As one of the most established authors in the literary and dramatic canon, tending to overshadow other Early Modern dramatists, Shakespeare has attracted the attention of critics, theorists, and theatrical practitioners down the centuries. However, as well as being a major focus for the application of theory, his work has also provided the impetus for the development of particular schools of criticism. Although there will be some revisiting of theories covered in other units on offer, this study-unit will focus primarily on those areas of theory specific to 'Shakespeare Studies' (though their connections with other schools of literary criticism will be considered). For example, a strand of cultural materialism will be discussed as a branch of Marxist theory which developed in specific relation to Shakespeare. The persistence of the 'auratic' fascination held by Shakespeare (the enduring quest for 'authenticity', alongside an unvanquished reverence for the perceived temporally-transcendent 'value' of 'the Bard' who continues to haunt) will also be discussed. The stability or otherwise of Shakespeare's canonical status will be considered, in terms of more contemporary theories which seek to question this, such as New Historicism. The relation between the subversive potential of the plays and their established status will be viewed through these different approaches. Throughout the study-unit, reference will be made to Shakespeare's work in performance. Changing conditions of production are bound to contexts, and awareness of this is crucial to a 'historicising' approach. Our main focus will be on contemporary re-visionings of the plays (from the twentieth to twenty-first centuries), as re-tellings and re-readings of Shakespeare which challenge or reinforce dominant perceptions. Study-Unit Aims: - To foster a critical appreciation of Shakespeare's continuing cultural significance today; - To introduce students to specific theories which developed in relation to Shakespeare, and locate those within a wider theoretical framework; - To provide an understanding of relevant contexts, and Shakespeare's place within them; - To familiarise students with the relationship between page, stage, and screen, and the process of adaptation; - To offer an opportunity for students to discuss and analyse the plays in a new light, and provide them with the tools for further analyses. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of relevant theories and their relation to Shakespeare and his work; - Show an increased and more in-depth awareness of Shakespeare's work and its contemporary significance; - Write a critical analysis of a particular Shakespearean play/production, and be capable of applying this knowledge more generally to Shakespeare's work, and to Early Modern drama; - Interrogate the reasons for Shakespeare's canonical status, and the implications of this dominant cultural position. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Engage more confidently in analytical and critical discussion; - Explore the relation between different media; - Identify links with contexts, and extend this critical approach to such contexts; - Gain a more informed grasp of Shakespeare and the Early Modern, and greater insight into their influence on our contemporary culture; - Engage in independent research, using the tools and guidance provided. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Although familiarity with as many of Shakespeare's plays as possible is encouraged, the following plays will receive particular attention here: Richard III, 1-3 Henry VI, Henry V, Midsummer Night's Dream, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet. General Introduction: - Kott, Jan, ‘The Kings’, in Shakespeare Our Contemporary (New York: Norton, 1964), pp. 3-55. - Shepherd, Simon and Peter Womack, English Drama: A Cultural History (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996), pp.87‐121. Play & Performance: - Weimann, Robert, ‘Performance-Game and Representation in Richard III’, in Textual and Theatrical Shakespeare: Questions of Evidence, ed. Edward Pechter (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1996), pp. 66-85. Cultural Materialism and Feminism: - McLuskie, Kate, ‘The Patriarchal Bard: Feminist Criticism and Shakespeare: King Lear and Measure for Measure’, in Political Shakespeares: Essays in Cultural Materialism, ed. by Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, 2nd edn (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), pp. 88-108. Why Shakespeare? New Historicism: - Greenblatt, Stephen, ‘Invisible Bullets: Renaissance Authority and its Subversion, Henry IV and Henry V’, in Political Shakespeares: Essays in Cultural Materialism, ed. by Jonathan Dollimore and Alan Sinfield, 2nd edn (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994), pp. 18-47. Fictionalisation and Parodic Embodiment of History: - Garber, Marjorie, ‘Descanting on Deformity: Richard III and the Shape of History’, in Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality (New York: Methuen, 1987), pp. 28-51. Questions of Ideology and Sovereignty: - Dollimore, Jonathan, and Alan Sinfield, ‘History and Ideology: The Instance of Henry V’, in Alternative Shakespeares, ed. by John Drakakis (London: Methuen, 1985), pp. 206-227. Authenticity, ‘Textuality’, and Authority: - Worthen, W.B., ‘Staging “Shakespeare”: Acting, Authority, and the Rhetoric of Performance’, in Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance, ed. James C. Bulman (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 12-28. - Kastan, David Scott, ‘From codex to computer; or, presence of mind’, in Shakespeare and the Book (Cambridge: University Press, 2001), pp. 111-136. - Maguire, Laurie E., ‘Composition/decomposition: Singular Shakespeare and the Death of the Author’, in The Renaissance Text: Theory, Editing, Textuality, ed. Andrew Murphy (Manchester: University Press, 2000), pp. 135-153. - Jowett, John, ‘The First Folio’, in Shakespeare and Text (Oxford: University Press, 2007), pp. 69-92. Intercultural Shakespeares: - Hodgdon, Barbara, ‘Looking for Mr Shakespeare after “the Revolution”: Robert Lepage’s Intercultural Dream Machine’, in Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance, ed. James C. Bulman (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 68-91. An excellent resource, with reviews of ‘Year of Shakespeare’ productions (2012) by Shakespeare scholars: http://yearofshakespeare.com/ Alternative Shakespeares (film): - Viewing: Tromeo and Juliet (Lloyd Kaufman, 1996); The Tempest (Derek Jarman, 1979). Metatheatrical Devices: - Bruster, Douglas and Robert Weimann, ‘Prologue as Threshold and Usher’, ‘Henry V and the Signs of Power’, in Prologues to Shakespeare’s Theatre: Performance and Liminality in Early Modern Drama (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 31-56, 135-152. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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