| CODE | THS2035 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Intercultural Performance | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Theatre Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will investigate theatre and performance practices which confront and/or combine the practices of one culture with those of one or more others. Interculturalism in theatre and performance will be viewed as referring to hybrid activities rather than to a specific genre of performance. The study unit will locate intercultural performance as a development of the interest in multicultural integration that characterised much of Western culture in the 1960s and 1970s. Intercultural performance will be seen as partly emerging in response to an increased desire – fuelled by postmodernism – to articulate cultural differences. The study-unit will analyse interculturalism in its various manifestations: (1) in the assimilation of intercultural aesthetics by Western theatre directors such as Artaud, Brecht, Mnouchkine, and Brooke; (2) in the pre-performance work (training and devising) of theatremakers such as Schechner, Grotowski, and Barba; and (3) in those instances where the movement of influence is in the other direction than the most common i.e. in the influence of the North, West or first world on the South, East or third world countries, such as Wole Soyinka and Tadashi Suzuki. The study-unit will also problematise the exploitative nature and the commodification and misrepresentation processes that often characterise intercultural ‘exchanges’. Study-unit Aims: - To investigate theatre and performance instances which confront and/or combine the practices of one culture with those of one or more others. - To locate intercultural performance as a development of the interest in multicultural integration that characterised much of Western culture in the 1960s and 1970s. - To view performance as emerging in response to an increased desire – fuelled by postmodernism – to articulate cultural differences. - To analyse interculturalism in its various manifestations. - To problematise the exploitative nature and the commodification and misrepresentation processes that often characterise intercultural ‘exchanges’. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: - Understand the theoretical approaches associated with intercultural performance. - Have knowledge of different twentieth century intercultural performances. - Differentiate, identify and discuss strengths and weaknesses of approaches to intercultural performances. - Identify and discuss performance evolution due to political and cultural considerations. - Identify political and economic interests behind the production of performances. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - analyse intercultural performance issues according to theoretical grounds such as postcolonial theory. - discuss the evolution of intercultural performance. - discuss performances via theoretical grounds such as postmodernism. Reading List: - E. Barba and N. Savarese, eds., A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology: The Secret Art of the Performer, second edition (London: Routledge 2006). - P. Pavis, Theatre at the Crossroads of Culture, trans. Loren Kruger (London: Routledge, 1992). - P. Pavis (ed.), Intercultural Performance Reader (London: Routledge, 1996). - R. Bharuca, Theatre and the World: Performance and the Politics of Culture (London: Routledge, 1993). - J. Martin, The Intercultural Performance Handbook (London: Routledge, 2004). - P. Zarrilli, Psychophysical Acting: An Intercultural Approach after Stanislavski (London: Routledge, 2008). - Staniewski, Wlodzimierz, and Alison Hodge, Hidden Territories: The Theatre of Gardzienice (London: Routledge, 2003). - Watson, Ian, ed., Performer Training: Developments Across Cultures (London:Harwood Academic Publishers, 2001). - E. Said, Orientalism, (London: Penguin, 2003). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Nicole Bugeja |
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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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