Society On Stage: Theatre During The Discoveries

Module description

This module is aimed at students who have an interest in theatre studies across languages. Spanning the period from 1500 to the 1550s, the module offers a valuable insight into an important time of reinvention of the concept of drama in Europe while exploring the social and cultural impact of the growing orthodoxy which characterized Iberian societies in this period, enforced by censorship and inquisitorial persecution.

We will examine to what extent the drama of sixteenth-century Portugal reflected, questioned and undermined the dominant ways of understanding society and the world in this period of great cultural change, and in turn how censorship attempted to purge the problematic aspects of the work of these playwrights.

In these plays by important writers close to the world of the court (Gil Vicente, Luis de Camões, Sá de Miranda, António Ferreira included), we will examine the relation of drama to political power and reflect on modes and strategies of critique of authority (political, religious, moral). In the course of the module we will equally examine the uses of drama as propaganda for an imperialist and absolutist monarchy, the representation of the feminine in early-modern society, the interaction between public and private lives, and the presence of strong individual personages vs. dramatic types.

The module will equally encourage students to bear in mind the role played by literary tradition in the development of theatre in this period, and invite them to consider the importance of dramatic genre in relation to the questions outlined above.

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/splas/modules/level7/7aasm064.aspx

Assessment details

Coursework

One 5000 word essay (100%)

Teaching pattern

2 hours per week

Module description disclaimer

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