6 ECTS credits
180 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4012322FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
This course gives a critical introduction to the phenomenon of metatheatre as a theoretical and practical reflection on the dramatic genre and the medium of the theatre (text). Adopting a literary historical and theoretical perspective, it examines self-reflexivity in drama and theatre, focussing in particular on contemporary reflections of genre and medium in postdramatic theatre and postdramatic theatre texts.
The course starts with a survey of metatheatre’s development through the past two millennia. Students will then be introduced to different theoretical approaches to metadrama which they are subsequently invited to discuss and apply to plays and theatre productions ranging from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1600) to Milo Rau’s La Reprise – Histoire(s) du théâtre (I) (2018).
This course is taught in English. Assignments can be written in either English, Dutch, or German.
Additional recommended reading:
Abel, Lionel. Tragedy and Metatheatre: Essays on Dramatic Form, edited and with an introduction by Martin Puchner. New York/London: Holmes & Meier, 2003 [1963]. [VUB library: 820 H 5 ABEL 2003]
Barnett, David. “When Is a Play Not a Drama? Two Examples of Postdramatic Theatre Texts.” New Theatre Quarterly 24.1 (2008): 14-23. [PDF on Canvas]
Hauthal, Janine. Metadrama und Theatralität: Gattungs- und Medienreflexion in zeitgenössischen englischen Theatertexten. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2009. [VUB library: 820 H 5 HAUT 2009]
Hornby, Richard. Drama, Metadrama, and Perception. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1986. [VUB library: on order]
Jarcho, Julia. Writing and the Modern: Theater beyond Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2017. [VUB library: 792 G JARC 2017]
Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatisches Theater: Ein Essay. Frankfurt/M.: Verlag der Autoren, 2001 [1999]. [VUB library: 830 H 5 LEHM 2001] (English translation: Postdramatic Theatre, translated and with an introduction by Karen Jürs-Munby. London/New York: Routledge. https://monoskop.org/images/2/2d/Lehmann_Hans-Thies_Postdramatic_Theatre.pdf)
Poschmann, Gerda. Der nicht mehr dramatische Theatertext: Aktuelle Bühnenstücke und ihre dramaturgische Analyse. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1997. [VUB library: 830 H 5 POSC 97]
Puchner, Martin. Stage-Fright: Modernism, Anti-Theatricality, and Drama. Baltimore/London: The Johns Hopkins UP, 2002. [VUB library: 820 H 5 PUCH 2002]
Students can understand and explain various forms of medium- and genre-related self-reflexivity in plays and theatre productions from 1600 to the present. In particular, they will gain a solid knowledge of how postdramatic theatre and postdramatic theatre texts reflect on the conventions of the dramatic genre. Students can critically assess both the primary material covered in this course and the scholarly work devoted to it. Students can formulate an original research project in which one (or several) dimension(s) of self-reflexivity are raised and illustrated, from a conceptual, historical and/or performance-oriented angle.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 20% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 30% of the final mark.
SELF Paper determines 50% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the SELF Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Students are encouraged to take advantage of the interactive tools at their disposal on the e-learning platform CANVAS. Together with their contributions to in-class discussions this will constitute the participatory grade (10%). A second course requirement pertains to an oral presentation (in group) or written exercise(s) (in group) (20%), in which students will practice applying and critically assessing an aspect of the theoretical framework to the course material. Thirdly, students will be asked to write a 3,000 to 5,000-word research paper (50%) that addresses one (or several) dimension(s) of self-reflexivity in a play or theatre production of their own choice (a list with recommendations will be provided in class) by critically engaging with the scholarly work devoted to it. Based on this paper, students will be asked to prepare a 5-minute individual presentation at the oral exam (20%), so as to orally defend their research paper.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Literary Studies - 1 language (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Literary Studies - 2 languages (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: profile Intermediality - 1 language (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: profile Intermediality - 2 languages (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Literary Studies 1 Language
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Literary Studies 2 Languages
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Intermediality - 1 language
Master of Linguistics and Literary Studies: Profile Intermediality - 2 languages
Master of Teaching in Languages: 1 taal (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Teaching in Languages: 2 talen (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)