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.