940:489 Post-Colonial Caribbean Theater and Performance Course Synopsis
RUTGERS, THE STATEUNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY
595:342
Post-Colonial Caribbean Theater and Performance
Fall 2012 * M/W * 2:15-3:35
110A RAB Cook/Douglass
Professor: Camilla Stevens
Office Hours: DC, Carpender House, 205; Mondays/Wednesdays 3:40-4:40, and by appointment
Email:
Phone: 932-9412, ext. 35
Department of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies:
Department Learning Goals:
Course Learning Goals:
“Theater is the act through which the collective consciousness sees
itself and consequently moves forward”
--Édouard Glissant
The objective of this class is to become acquainted with the theatre and performance traditions of the post-colonial Caribbean and its diaspora. Through the study of plays from the 1960s to the present, we will investigate how performance constitutes a special activity that serves to imagine national community as well as how theatre functions as a space for creating and preserving cultural memory. Some of the topics that will organize our discussions will include:
Storytelling and the Oral Tradition
Re-visioning European Dramatic Traditions
Ritual and Carnival
Politics and the Performance of Race, Class, and Gender
Transnationalism, Diaspora, and Exile
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Analyze the social and cultural values and problems of individual and collective identity manifested in the texts;
- Analyze the elements of performance that construct the communication of meaning for readers and spectators;
- Analyze the texts and performances in relation to their Caribbean historical and cultural contexts;
- Formulate and present, orally and in writing, well-organized and well-supported arguments;
- Demonstrate the ability to expand and integrate knowledge through research.
Textbook:
With the exception of Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (available at Rutgers Barnes and Noble), all the primary readings for the class are included in PDF form on our Sakai class web site: . You are expected to bring printouts of these materials to every class meeting.
Evaluation:
Class Grade:20%
(attendance, daily participation, written homework, pop quizzes)
Presentation:10%
(group presentation and analysis of a scene from one the plays read in class)
2 Papers: 35%
(Textual analysis paper: 10%, research paper: 25%)
2 Exams: 35%
(Mid-term: 25%, Quiz: 10%)
Class Grade:
- This grade is an average of: announced and unannounced quiz scores, written homework, and class participation.
- No make ups for missed homework assignments.
- You cannot receive full credit for class participation if you do not bring the texts to class.
- You can have 3 excused or unexcused absences; each absence thereafter will bring your Class Grade down by one percentage point.Please report your absence to the Rutgers Self-Reporting Absence Website
Presentation:
- In groups, you will do a dramatized reading of a scene from one of the plays. You will need to meet outside of class at least once to prepare for the presentation.
2 Papers:
- 10% Textual analysis paper.
- 25% The final paper, 8-10 pages (due Dec. 17), will combine research and analysis of one of the texts studied in class (you cannot focus solely on the same play as the short paper).
- Content, organization, style, and format will all be considered in determining your paper grades. Please see instructions and rubric posted on course Sakai site.
- Any paper handed in late will receive a reduced grade unless the student can provide documentation justifying his/her lateness.
Exams:
- 25% Mid-term exam (may include identifications, textual analysis and short essays)
- 10% 30-minute quiz (in-class essay)
Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism will not be tolerated. RutgersUniversity defines plagiarism as:
“Plagiarism is the representation of the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise. To avoid plagiarism, every direct quotation must be identified by quotation marks or by appropriate indentation and must be promptly cited in the text or in a footnote.”*
It is your responsibility to recognize the contributions of others to your work, whether you paraphrase ideas from other sources or directly quote them. Plagiarism from the Internet is easily recognized by the professor. For a guide on how to cite secondary sources in your reports and papers, please consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.
*Please see the complete university policy:
Schedule:
9.5 Introduction to the course; explanation of terminology and historical context.
Re-Acting to Empire
9.10Selections fromColonialism: A Theoretical Overview by Jürgen Osterhammel and A Continent of Islands by Mark Kurlansky
9.12 Selections from An Anatomy of Drama by Martin Esslin; “Aimé Césaire” (video)
9.17 A Tempest (1969) by Aimé Césaire
9.19 A Tempest and “Postcolonial Criticism” by Lois Tyson
9.24“The Mythic Portrait of the Colonized” by Albert Memmi; “Interview with Derek Walcott” (video)
9.26 Pantomime (1979) by Derek Walcott
Community and Carnival
10.1 Pantomime (video)
10.3“The Insatiable Season” (video) and The Dragon can’t Dance (1984)
10.8The Dragon can’t Dance
10.10Island Memories (1985) by Ina Césaire
10.15Masquerade (1958) by Francisco Arriví
10.17Masqueradeand “Toward a National Theatre” by Errol Hill
Trapped in Time and Politics
10.22The Fanlights (1958)by René Marqués
10.24The Fanlights
10.29The Night of the Assassins (1966)
10.31 The Night of the Assassins*Group A textual analysis paper due
11.5Presentations
11.7Exam
Globalization, Migration, and Exile
11.12Tropical Breeze Hotel by Maryse Conde (1988)and“Cultural Identity and Diaspora” by Stuart Hall
11.14 Tropical Breeze Hotel
11.19Your Handsome Captain (1987) by Simone Schwarz-Bart
Thanksgiving Break
11.26 Anna in the Tropics (2003) by Nilo Cruz and “The Poetry of Yearning, the Artistry of Seduction” by Ben Brantley
11.28 Anna in the Tropics
12.3Presentations *Last day for group B to hand in textual analysis paper
12.5Smile Orange (1971) by Trevor Rhone
12.10Smile Orange
12.12Conclusions; QuizFinal paper due: Monday Dec. 17, before 3:00 p.m.