This module explores main traditions across Asia, Americas and Africa as well as continental Europe.
This second-year module will explore concepts and practices of performance and theatre from around the world and how these have influenced the development of the avant-garde in Europe. This module is designed to provide theoretical underpinning and some practical grounding. It will start by looking at ideas of interculturalism, nation/state, cultural identity, specifically at how scholars such as Patrice Pavis, Homi Bhabha and Erika Fischer-Lichte have shaped the study of theatre and forms of cultural encounters. Then, it will move on to look at main traditional forms of theatre in Asia, Africa and Southern America. It will finally go back to modern and contemporary European theatre practices.
This module will foster an interdisciplinary approach: it will make clear links with anthropology, cultural studies, history and film studies and will encourage students to make comparisons between practices and ideas through the employ of a variety of material: archive, video and cinematic material, literary texts and play-texts.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this module, this module will be open to all LIFTs students.
Aims
The aim is to understand diverse theatrical traditions in terms of their cultural context and from a global transnational perspective, how each tradition is related to one another and cannot be seen in total isolation. This module will be mainly focus on the theory and contexts of Global Theatre and transcultural encounters and will equip students with a specialist knowledge of the notions and traditions explored.
This section will mainly focus on the idea that learning and critical inquiries are based on cross-referencing, cumulative and in-depth acquisition of knowledge. Its structure fosters initiative and independence in research and presentation of work, and collaborative effort in class discussion.
- Module Supervisor: Mary Mazzilli