Theatres of the Middle East – DRAM21021

Second Year Study Option - Semester 1 2010/11

Dear Student,

Welcome to the course. This pack gives an outline of the seminar programme, information about assessment and a bibliography.

The course will introduce you to a range of play texts, playwrights and theatre companies active in the Middle East since World War 1. The historical timeline of the course traces some of the key historical and political shifts of the last 100 years in the Middle East, and their influence on theatre practice. In addition, the course provides an introduction to theatre in Egypt, Syria, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. If you are particularly interested in one area I would encourage you to develop your interest further – by following the reading and exploring key resources outlined in the bibliography, as well as pursuing independent research.

This is a 20 credit study option and will be taught via mini-lectures and enquiry based learningmethods over eleven weekly two hour long seminars. Each week will focus on specific questions raised by the presented materials and some of the problems associated with studying them. You will be asked to complete preparatory readings each week. In addition, you will be required to contribute to a series of ‘virtual’ seminars - online discussions prompted by stimulus posted to the course website.

In your preparations for the course I encourage you to sample aspects of Arabic or Middle Eastern cultural expression, including contemporary music (try Fairuz, Reem Kelani and Natacha Atlas), food (Petra, on Upper Brook Street, and Jaffa or Falafel on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme are good places to eat), poems (start with Palestinian poets Mahmoud Darwish and Mourid Barghouti), novels (try Ahdaf Soueif’s Map of Love and Laila Al-Atrash’s A Woman of Five Seasons) and films (Egypt is the third biggest international producer of film, following Bollywood and Hollywood).

Please buy the following two books which are essential reading for the course:

  • Jayyusi S & Allen R 1995 Modern Arabic Drama: An AnthologyIndianaUniversity Press, PROTA
  • Mark Fortier 2002 (second edition) theory / theatre: an introduction Routledge: LondonNew York

There is a blackboard site for Theatres of the Middle East, containing all relevant documentation, readings, resources and access to the virtual seminars. You will be able to access the course website via the blackboard link on the University of Manchester student portal once the semester begins.

All other materials, including copies of plays and theoretical articles, will be provided via a course pack (available during freshers week from outside of my office).

We will meet as a group each week on Thursdays 3-5pm in SU14. Please arrive on time so that we can start promptly and complete readings for the first seminar as indicated below.

Jenny

Course aim:

  • To explore a range of contemporary plays, playwrights and theatre companies active in the Middle East and the social and political contexts from which they have emerged

Objectives:

By the end of the course students will:

  • Have read the plays of key published dramatists from the Middle East, with particular focus on playwrights in Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Syria
  • Become generally familiar with the broad historical shifts that have affected cultural production in the region, including colonialism/imperialism, nationalist struggle, the emergence of ‘modern’ states and conflict
  • Explored key themes in contemporary Arabic drama, including the impact of the Israel and Palestine conflict, political oppression, nationalism and women/sexuality
  • Identified and discussed the strategies by which theatre makers have critiqued political oppression and explored human rights, including the use of parable, metaphor, popular forms of entertainment and humour
  • Learnt how to draw on post-colonial and cultural theory, including the ideas of Edward Said and others, to support their analysis of cultural texts, make considered claims, and appreciate the complexity of cross cultural study

Assessment:

  • Contribution to online discussions (15%) – students are required to make AT LEAST 10 posts that will be formative responses to stimulus posted to the course website by the course tutor, and to each others’ questions and reflections. You are strongly advised to keep up with posts throughout the duration of the course, by making for example 1 post per week
  • Research presentations (20%) – students will work in small groups to independently research a piece of theatre practice from a specific Middle Eastern country not covered in-depth during the course. They will be asked to report on their findings as well as the practical and theoretical challenges of the assignment
  • 3300 word essay (65%) – a scholarly piece of writing in response to an essay question set by the course tutor

Deadlines

Research presentations will take place on Thursday 10th December.

Last posts to the online discussion must be made by the end of the day on Monday 20thDecember.

Essay deadline: Monday 17th January
Week 1 – Thursday30th September, 3-5pm – Introduction and overview

‘Mapping’ the Middle East. Key terms and concepts – colonialism, post-colonialism, materialism, hybridity, culture, theatre, performance, ‘Middle East’, ‘The Arab World’, ‘Islamism’. Exploration of the contemporary relevance of this course andintroduction to the course website on blackboard.

Reading:

Preface and introduction from Jayyusi S & Allen R 1995 Modern Arabic Drama: An Anthology Indiana University Press, PROTA pp. vii – x, pp.1-20

Introduction from Mark Fortier 2002 (second edition) theory/theatre: an introduction Routledge: LondonNew York pp. 1-16

Chapter 2, Lawrence TE 1935 (1997) Seven Pillars of Wisdom Wordsworth Editions Limited: Hertfordshire pp.14-20– in course reader

Preface and Introduction to Said E 1973 (reprinted with new Preface 2003) Orientalism Penguin: Londonpp. xi – xxiii, pp.1 – 28 - in course reader

Virtual seminar 1 – what are the cultural, political and philosophical assumptions of this course? Interest in the Arab world since 9-11.

Week 2 – Thursday7th October, 3-5pm– The impact of the colonial period

Arabic playwrights on the emergence of post-colonial society. The productive tension between the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ in Egyptian plays before the revolution. Key theoretical frames – ‘materialism’: how does theatre reflect, resist and produce ideology/ideologies and reality/realities at a time of historical change?

Reading:

‘The Court Rules’by Mahmoud Taymour (Egypt 1941) – in course reader

‘The Song of Death’ by Tawfik al-Hakim (Egypt 1950) – in course reader

‘Boss Kanduz’s Apartment Building’ by Tawfik al-Hakim (Egypt 1950) – in course reader

‘Materialist, Postmodern and Post-colonial theory’ (sections on Materialist theory and Postmodern theory only) in Mark Fortier 2002 (second edition) theory/theatre: an introduction Routledge: LondonNew York pp.151-192

Amine K 2006 ‘Theatre in the Arab World: A Difficult Birth’ Theatre Research International 31:2 145-162 – under ‘resources’ on course website

Week 3 – Thursday 14thOctober, 3-5pm – Anti-colonial struggle and the emerging nation

Arabic playwrights on imagining the nation: the search for national identity in the post-colonial Egyptian theatre of Tawfik al-Hakim. Introduction to post-colonial theory: how can we use theoretical approaches such as ‘Orientalism’ (Said) to analyse and understand plays from other cultures? Students to form research groups for research presentations.

Reading:

‘Flipflap and his master’ by Youssef Idris (Egypt 1964)– in course reader

‘The Fate of a Cockroach’ by Tawfik al-Hakim (Egypt 1967) – in course reader

‘Materialist, Postmodern and Post-colonial theory’ (section on Post-colonial theory only) in Mark Fortier 2002 (second edition) theory/theatre: an introduction Routledge: LondonNew York pp. 192- 216

Secondary reading

Amine K & Carlson M (2008) ‘Al-halqa in Arabic Theatre: an emerging site of hybridity’ Theatre Journal 60:1 71-85 – under ‘resources’ on course website

Week 4 – Thursday 21st October, 3-5pm – The Modern State

The ModernState. Arabic playwrights on the state, security, human rights, repression and dissent. The development of hybrid theatrical form in an age of ‘disturbed spirits’. The invention of a hybrid form from re-imaginings of a pre-colonial, indigenous heritage and imported practices.

Reading:

‘The King is the King’ by Sa’dallah Wannus (Syria 1977) – in Jayyusi S & Allen R 1995 Modern Arabic Drama: An Anthology

‘In Plain Arabic’ (Egypt 1990) – Lenin Al-Ramli – in course reader

Extract from Kolk M (Ed.)The Performance of the Comic in Arabic Theater: Cultural Heritage, Western Models, Postcolonial Hybridity, Morocco 2005, Abdelmalek Assaadi University & University of Amsterdam. Lenin al-Ramli ‘Comedy in the East and the Art of Cunning: A Testimony’ pp.166 – 180 – in course reader

Week 5 – Thursday 28th October, 3-5pm – Women and Sexuality

Women and sexuality – the representation of women in plays exploring nationalist struggle and political, social and cultural transformation. How have playwrights constructed and contested the positioning of women in the Arab world?

Reading:

‘That’s Life’ by Mamduh Udwan (Syria 1984) - in Jayyusi S & Allen R 1995 Modern Arabic Drama: An Anthology

‘The Last Walk’ by Albert Farag (Egypt, 1993) – in course reader

‘The Mask’ by Mamdouh Udwan (Syria, 1997) – in course reader

‘Feminist and Gender Theory’ in Mark Fortier 2002 (second edition) theory/theatre: an introduction Routledge: London & New York pp. 107-131

Karin van Nieuwkerk ‘Changing images and shifting identities: Female performers in Egypt’ in Zuhur, S (1998) Images of Enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts in the Middle East The American University of Cairo Press pp.21-35

Virtual seminar2 – the problems of translation in theatre, and implications of this for the study of translated plays. Reading for the virtual seminar:

Bassnett S ‘Still trapped in the Labyrinth: Further reflections on translation and theatre’ (chapter 6) in Bassnett S & Lefevere A 1998 Constructing Cultures: Essays on Literary Translation Multilingual Matters: Clevedon USA pp. 90-108 – in course reader

Two extracts from ‘The Song of Death’ by Tawfik al-Hakim (Egypt 1950) – in course reader

Week 6 - Reading Week: general reading, virtual seminar and work on research presentations

Week 7 – Thursday 11th November, 3-5pm – Israel & Palestine (1)

Israeli playwrights on Israel, the Arab world and the Israel-Palestine conflict.Positioning ‘Israel’ in the Middle East. The Holocaust as metaphor

‘Ghetto’ by Joshua Sobol (1989, Israel) – in course reader

Two extracts from Abramson G 1998 Drama and Ideology in Modern Israel Cambridge University Press– in course reader. Including:

  • ‘Introduction’ pp.1 – 13
  • ‘The Holocaust as Political Analogy’ (Chapter 8) pp.172 -192

Secondary reading (useful for context)–

‘Via Dolorosa’ by David Hare (1998, UK) – in course reader

Week 8 – Thursday 18th November, 3-5pm - Israel & Palestine (2)

Palestinian playwrights on Palestine, the Arab world and the Israel-Palestine conflict.Positioning ‘Palestine’ in the Middle East. The nation as metaphor.

‘Darkness’ by the Balalin Company of Jerusalem (1972, Palestine) – in Jayyusi S & Allen R 1995 Modern Arabic Drama: An Anthology

‘Ansar’ by Fateh Azzam and others (1991, Palestine) – in course reader

‘Baggage’ by Fattah Azzam (2000, Palestine) - in course reader

Nassar HK 2006 ‘Stories from under Occupation: Performing the Palestinian Experience’ Theatre Journal 58:1 pp.15-37 – under resources on course website

Virtual seminar 3 – responses to Israeli and Palestinian Theatre

Week 9 – Thursday 25th November, 3-5pm – Global Cultural Currencies: importing and exporting Middle Eastern theatre

How is theatre of Middle Eastern heritage imported and exported across Eastern and Western contexts? This session explores two prominent theatre projects that have travelled across East and West. How was this theatre made, produced, received? How can we critically engage with these performances as artistic products and as ‘evidence’ of contemporary postcolonial realities?

Reading:

Sulayman Al-Bassem and Graham Holderness 2006 The Al-Hamlet SummitUniversity of Hertfordshire Press– in course reader

Pleaselocate and read the original version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet

Also look at - and search foronline press reviews of the Al-Hamlet Summit

Week 10– Thursday 2nd December, 3-5pm– Islamic performance, the performance of Islam

How is ‘Islam’ performed in the contemporary world? This session will explore constructions of ‘Islam’ in the plays read during the course, together with three specific, disconnected examples of ‘Islam’ in performance: the shi’ite religious ritual performance known as ‘Ta’ziyeh, the very public controversy about the veil worn by Muslim women (the ‘debate’, as well as the veil itself will be considered ‘as’ performance) and Muslim live comedy, via selected clips of British Muslim comics Omid Djalili and Sharza Mirza.

John Bell 2005 ‘Islamic Performance and the problem of drama’ TDR: The Drama Review 49:4 5-10 – on course website

Peter Chelkowski 2005 ‘Time out of memory: Ta’ziyeh, the Total Drama’ TDR: The Drama Review 49:4 15-27 – on course website

Aisha Lee Fox Shaheed ‘Dress codes and modes: how Islamic is the veil?’ in Heath J (ed) 2008 The Veil: women writers on its history, lore and politics University of California Press

Please also look at links to discussions of the veil, and to clips of Omid Djalili and Sharza Mirza, on the course website.

Week 11 – Thursday 9th December, 3-5pm

Research presentations.

Week 12 – Thursday 16th December, 3-5pm

Course evaluation and essay workshop. Please come prepared to present an ‘abstract’ of your 3300 word essay.

Essay questions

Please choose one of the following questions for your essays:

  1. ‘As Arab nations gained full independence in the 1940s and 1950s…both intellectuals and government officials rapidly realised the potential of theatre’s role as a kind of public platform, a safety valve for the airing of societal problems. As playwrights have proceeded to explore the possibilities of the dramatic medium and to test its limits, governments have set up a variety of means of review and control – in a word, censorship – to keep this potentially volatile medium on a tight rein’ (Jayyusi and Allen)

What performance and literary strategies have playwrights employed in their realisation of theatre’s role as a public platform and safety valve for airing societal problems? Critically analyse at least two Middle Eastern plays in your discussion of this question

  1. How is the ‘post-colonial’ represented and explored in contemporary theatre in the Middle East? Critically analyse at least two Middle Eastern plays in your discussion of this question
  1. ‘While it must be admitted that at times politics has dominated Arabic drama to a suffocating degree, this drama, perhaps more than any other literary form, affords incontrovertible evidence that Arab writers have been the political conscience of the Arab nation’ (M.M.Badawi)

Referring to at least two plays explore how political concerns can be said to have suffocated and/or supported the development of Middle Eastern drama

  1. ‘A translator without a historical consciousness (is) a prisoner to his or her representation of translating and to those representations that convey the ‘social discourses’ of the moment’ (Antoine Berman 1995).

Explore the importance of ‘historical consciousness’ to your understanding of at least one play you have studied as part of this course, paying particular attention to issues of language and other aspects of cultural translation

  1. ‘(Nation) is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequity and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such imaginings. These deaths bring us face to face with the central problem posed by nationalism: what makes the shrunken imaginings of recent history (scarcely more than two centuries) generate such colossal sacrifices? I believe that the beginnings of the answer lie in the cultural roots of nationalism’ (Benedict Anderson)

To what extent can theatre be said to have played a part in supportingthe ‘shrunken imaginings’ of nationalist projects in Middle Eastern countries? Critically analyse at least two Middle Eastern plays in your discussion of this question

  1. ‘Superiority? Inferiority? Why not the quite simple attempt to touch the other, to feel the other, to explain the other to myself? Was my freedom not given to methen in order to build the world of the You?’(Frantz Fanon)

How does the study of theatre from another culture present possibilities for new forms of understanding between self and other? What are the possibilities and limits of this relationship? Critically analyse at least two Middle Eastern plays in your discussion

  1. ‘Feminist theory is profoundly concerned with the cultural representation of women’ (Fortier) What performance and textual strategies have playwrights used in their representations of women, and how do these cultural representations reinforce and/or critique patterns of oppression? Discuss in relation to at least two plays encountered during the course
  1. ‘In the history of theatre … Islam is largely a negative force’ (Brockett and Hildy). Critically respond to this statement, paying particular attention to how is ‘Islam’ is represented and understood in at least one example of contemporary theatre or performance.

Research Presentations

You will work in groups of 3-4 to produce a 15-minute research presentation in week 11 of the course.

Your group will present the findings of research into an aspect of theatre practice (this might be a play, a theatre company, playwright or theatre project) from a specific country. Groups will be asked to select from the following countries:

  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Palestine
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Kuwait
  • Sudan
  • Arab playwrights/performers in the West
  • Islamic performance

You must cover the following in your presentation:

  • The specific social, political and historical context
  • A description of the range of theatre practice in that context
  • A critical analysis of one form of theatre practice, utilising theoretical concepts and frameworks introduced during the course
  • A report on the practical and theoretical/philosophical problems you encountered in the research process

Use the course bibliography and resources during your investigation, but also look for (and evaluate) new sources of information. Ensure that you make full use of the electronic journals and databases accessible via the John Rylands library website. Make use of visuals in presentations where appropriate.

Each group will submit one side A4 giving the outline of their presentation, and a short list of research resources used in its construction.

Bibliography

This is a preliminary bibliography only, with indicative readings. For your assessments you are expected to use this bibliography to guide independent research but also make efforts to find and evaluate your own sources of information. Note: if you know a document exists but cannot find it either via the electronic resources at the library or in hard copy please ask me – I may have a copy. Also please use the inter-library services on the ground floor of the library (though allow at least seven days for delivery of documents or books).