DR26920 - AMERICAN VOICES

Module Identifier

DR26920

Module Title

AMERICAN VOICES

Academic Year

2004/2005

Co-ordinator

Dr Alison Forsyth

Semester

Semester 2

Pre-Requisite

Sucessful completion of Part One Drama

Course delivery

Lecture

1 x 1 hour per week

Seminars / Tutorials

1 x 1 hour per week

Other

Viewings to be arranged

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment Length/Details	Proportion
Semester Exam	2 Hours	40%
Semester Assessment	Two essays of 2000 words each, one worth 20% the other worth 30% of the assessment.	50%
Semester Assessment	Class contribution	10%
Supplementary Assessment	Written essay / Exam : Failed work must be re-submitted or retaken. To resit class contribution, the student will be asked to submit a 1500 word essay.	100%

Learning outcomes

On sucessful completion of the module students should be able to:

Display a sophisticated critical understanding of the texts under consideration
Situate the module's texts in their cultural, political and historical contexts
Demonstrate an awareness of the wider cultural and theoretical issues raised by the module
Produce organised, coherently structured and critically engaged written work

Brief description

A selection of plays will provide a springboard from which to explore a variety of issues and to pose a number of questions about not only "American"Theatre, but also "American" identity: How far has multiculturalism succeeded in America? To what extent can the "voices" of the many ethnic, social, religious and cultural groups in America be heard? How and to what extent has theatre/performance (from early 1960s to the late 1990s) contributed toward providing a platform for the many "other" voices that make the United States?

Content

Lecture One: Multiculturalism and Heteroglossia: Alternative Voices (1963-present)
Lecture Two: Valdez, Los Vendidos
Lecture Three: Baraka, Dutchman
Lecture Four: Parks, The America Play
Lecture Five: Orientalism and Myth-Making in Hwang's M. Butterfly
Lecture Six: The Intertextual Voice: Hwang, Parks and Baraka
Lecture Seven: New York, New York: Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror and Kushner's Angels in America
Lecture Eight: Shattered Dreams: Shepard's True West
Lecture Nine: Female Space: Fornes's Fefu and Her Friends
Lecture Ten: The Musical Voice: From Trouble in Tahiti to Rent
[Eight play texts, two video screenings]

Reading Lists

Books
Baraka, I A (1984) the Autobiography of leRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka
Berson, M (1998) "The Demon in David Hwang" in American Theatre
Bigsby, C W E (2000) Modern American Drama: 1945-2000
Broyles-Gonzalez, Y (1994) El Teatro Campesino: Theatre in the Chicano Movement
Campbell, N and Kean, A (1997) American Cultural Studies: An introduction to American Culture
Cummings, S (1985) "Seeing With Clarity: The Visions of Maria Irene Fornes" in Theatre 17/1 51-56
Geis, D R (1997) Approaching the Millennium: Essays on Angels in America
Kimball, K (1988) Sam Shepard
Stayton, R (1993) "An Interview with Anne Deavere Smith" in American Theatre
Savron, D (1988) In their own Words: Contemporary American Playwrights

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5