BA WW80 Drama and Creative Writing,
BA WW81 Drama and Creative Writing (Including Foundation Year),
BA WW82 Drama and Creative Writing (including Placement Year),
BA WW83 Drama and Creative Writing (including Year Abroad)
This module analyses relationships between performance, sexuality and identity and how performance might be deployed in the service of specific political and cultural agendas.
This module aims to introduce students to the ways in which dominant heteronormative gender and sexual identities have been challenged through
performance modes by representation and inhabitation.
This module will provide an opportunity for students to consider in detail contemporary theories of sexuality, identity and gender. It explores: how particular ideologies of gender function in drama, theatre and performance; the potential of gender-informed critical practice for revealing and subverting existing norms of
representation; and the range and variety of dramatic and theatrical practice by counter-normative identities. The module analyses ways in which performance engages with, reveals, challenges, deconstructs and resists dominant norms of gender and sexuality.
A key focus will be on how performances reflect and contribute to shifts in circulating discourses of power. The module will focus on the politics of gender, sexuality, identity and representation within a range of cultural and historical contexts, asking questions about the nature and purpose of representation within ethical and political frameworks, and examining how artists themselves have used performance platforms, staged interventions and formal innovations to interrogate the ideological implications of their own practices. The module will look at theoretical frameworks of gender and sexuality, at the same time exploring the intersections with other elements of the performance of identity such as social class, affiliated ideology and ethnicity.
Starting with the traditionally 'unmarked' dominance of white heterosexual men, students will engage with a wide range of plays, practitioners, performance artists and creative media examples to interrogate notions of the 'other' as performances of gender and sexual identity. Through a consideration of a range of companies, performers, playwrights, organisations, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, and critical writing, the module will consider a variety of topics which may include, but are not limited to: theories and histories of sexuality;
marriage and civil partnerships; gay and lesbian theatre; music videos; trans identities; drag; HIV/AIDS; activism; club performance.
Theoretical frameworks may include post-structuralist feminism, queer studies, transgender studies and men's studies. The work of theorists such as Judith Butler, Jill Dolan and bell hooks are likely to inform an understanding of how gender roles can be understood to be 'performative' and 'performed' although the
chosen case studies will primarily determine appropriate reading strategies.
The module will enable students to engage with a range of key theoretical methods and approaches. It will build on an introduction to semiotics and ideology by focusing on questions of identity and power; it will also develop students' historical thinking and research skills. In the course of this work we consider how sexual identities intersect with other identity-forming discourses, especially gender and race/ethnicity. Students will be exposed to a range of theatre forms in order to examine the tripartite relationship between socio-historical contexts, formal and aesthetic innovation in the theatre, and the political implications of performance.
Module content note: topics may include sexual violence/self-harm/racism/domestic abuse/. Please contact the module supervisor if you have any questions.
The aims of the module are:
* To develop students' critical appreciation of gender representations in theatre and performance and to introduce them to key issues of gender theory
* To examines theatrical representations of gender in a selection of dramatic and performance texts and events from Shakespeare to the 21st century
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
* Demonstrate a clear understanding of the social, cultural and aesthetic perspectives on gender
representations in theatrical texts and performance
* Evaluate and respond to a range of gender discourses in theatre and theory, using a critical and analytical vocabulary
* Exhibit superior research skills in presenting a cogent examination of a related topic drawing on the analysis of course material
Knowledge and understanding
Students successfully completing the programme will acquire knowledge and understanding of:
* Contemporary debates around gender theory, gendered social practices, and political activism
* Representations of gender and subjectivity in social institutions, theatre and media
* The cultural and social construction of gendered identity across time and culture
* The development of drama in the Western world within the context of European culture
* The language used in literary criticism and the analysis of performance
* A number of diverse dramatic texts
* The link between theatre and wider modes of performance
Intellectual skills
Students who successfully complete the programme will utilise intellectual skills, including the following:
* Critical analysis - text, performance, concept, theory
* Interdisciplinary approach
* Self-reflexive thinking
* Establishing relevance to contemporary issues
* Comparative study of different historical periods and cultures
* The writing of essays, documents and commentaries
* Research skills
Praxis skills
Students who successfully complete the programme will have developed a range of praxis skills:
* Relate to others in theatrical processes and performances; to work effectively with others in small task-orientated groups and to initiate and sustain creative, analytic and interpretative work within strict time limits and to solve a number of specific technical problems and apply that understanding to performance work
* Demonstrate the ability to explore theoretical concerns through practice, and vice versa, and to synthesise findings in practical and written tasks
* Demonstrate self-direction and originality in identifying and resolving theoretical and practice problems
* Gain an ability to present and articulate key concepts and principles through written and oral argumentation, critical debate and written or practical presentation
Practical skills
Students who successfully complete the programme will have developed a range of practical skills:
* Performance
* Devising
* Directing
* Workshop facilitation
* Deploy methodologies utilising gender as a category of analysis
* Be capable of independent research using gender as a variable
* Be able to apply insights gained to a variety of social and employment situations
Personal skills
* Engagement with a number of complex social and political topics that are pertinent to a meaningful engagement with the wider world
* Demonstrate the ability to balance between self-direction and collaborative work
* Adapt and design working methods for each new situation: self-management, collaborative working skills, problem solving, critical analysis and valuing own and others' ideas and beliefs
* Develop personal skills of communication, leadership, teamwork, and conflict management involved with making and facilitating performance pieces and projects
Transferable skills
Students who successfully complete the programme will develop the following transferable skills:
* Role-play participation
* Ability to construct and analyse arguments, both in writing and verbally
* Ability to think critically and apply theoretical insights to social experience
* Ability to work independently and within a group
* Ability to apply imagination and sensitivity to any interactive situation.
* Apply gender sensitivity to a variety of employment and social situations
PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS COURSE COVERS MATERIAL THAT SOME STUDENTS
MIGHT FIND TROUBLING.
Course content
§ Feminist, gay, lesbian, queer, and trans theories, histories, and dramaturgies of performance
§ Artistic and cultural works by/about feminist, gay, lesbian, queer, and trans subjects
§ The performance of gender and sexual identities in everyday life
§ The role of gender as discourse and social practice in different historical periods and a variety of
cultures/countries, and in the changing social and cultural context of the theatre
§ Historical production of gender and sexuality on and off stage
§ Competing constructions and representations of femininity and masculinity
§ Feminist and queer activism
§ The interplay of gender, sexuality and subjectivity both in society and within theatrical space
§ Performative intersections of gender and sexuality with other determinants of identity such as race,
ethnicity, class, ability, employment, religion, nationality, and age
§ Theories of gender, transsexuality, social politics, and dramatic representation (text and performance)
§ The nature of gender studies and of theatre in terms of the structures of social interrelationships,
power, identity and role central to both disciplines
§ Gender as a methodological tool or category of analysis with which to approach a range of academic
disciplines
Anticipated teaching delivery: Weekly 3-hour workshop/seminar
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.