WiSe 20/21: Theatre and Society in Transition
Radka Kunderová
Comments
How can the status of theatre and its aesthetics be redefined in times of societal transition? What happens to theatre when a communist regime ends and democracy is being re-instated in a society? And how does the inter-relation between theatre and the public spheres develop under such circumstances? These are the key issues to be dealt with in the seminar. The focus will be on the mutual relation between theatre and society and on seeking new ways to grasp it through academic reflection.
For case study material, the course will draw on transformations in Central European theatre after the collapse of communism in 1989, with a particular emphasis on the former East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Prior to and during the year 1989, theatre in both of the countries enjoyed an exceptionally powerful political position. In contrast, the situation in the 1990s has frequently been labelled as a “crisis of theatre”, a period when theatre is believed to have lost its former social relevance. We will explore the underlying causes of these crises and compare and contrast subsequent developments in the two theatre cultures in the early 1990s.
The seminar will be taught online. You will be informed by the lecturer about the exact procedure before the seminar begins. Over the semester, the enrolled students will improve their skills in reflecting on theoretical as well as historiographical literature, in performance analysis, and theatre criticism analysis. The selected readings and research materials will be available in English and German. The course will be taught in English, no knowledge of the Czech language is required.
Requirements
Active participation in in-class discussion and a twenty-page term paper in English or German.
Literature
BALME, Christopher. The Theatrical Public Sphere. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2014.
IBS, Torben. Umbrüche und Aufbrüche: Transformationen des Theaters in Ostdeutschland zwischen 1989 und 1995. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 2015.
SZABÓ, Attila – KRAKOWSKA, Joanna (eds). Theatre after the Change I: And What Was There Before the After?. Budapest: Creativ Média, 2011.
close14 Class schedule
Regular appointments