L.008.32305 The Future in British Drama after 2000

Lehrende: Prof. Dr. Merle Tönnies

Veranstaltungsart: Seminar

Orga-Einheit: Anglistik/Amerikanistik

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Semesterwochenstunden: 2

Unterrichtssprache: Englisch

Min. | Max. Teilnehmerzahl: - | 35

Literatur:
The following four plays have to be read for the seminar:

Stef Smith, Human Animals, London: Nick Hern Books, 2016.
Caryl Churchill, Escaped Alone, London: Nick Hern Books, 2016.
Alistair McDowall, X, London: Methuen, 2016.
Mike Bartlett, Game, London: Nick Hern Books, 2015.

All plays are accessible on Drama Online (http://dramaonlinelibrary.com). Please log on with your IMT account via Shibboleth to get access. Of course, you are also welcome to buy the play texts in any available edition.

Please read at least the first play (Stef Smith’s Human Animals) until the beginning of the semester.

Additional material will be made available via PANDA where necessary.

Kommentar:
The seminar will take place in a digital format via PANDA, with one video conferences being offered at the beginning of the semester and one towards the end. More detailed information on this will be available at the beginning of the semester.

We will analyse a selection of contemporary British plays which construct imaginary futures – a trend which really boomed in the 2010s. Although explicit indications of a future setting are rare in these works, they clearly use (sometimes even ‘quote’) salient characteristics of traditional future-oriented genres like dystopia and science fiction and transpose them to the stage. In this way, the plays can be read as critically extrapolating their futures from the problems of the contemporary world, calling upon audiences to change the current situation. However, such messages ultimately remain ambiguous in most plays, and we will read them closely to see how theatrical techniques are employed to achieve these effects.

It is essential for the success of the seminar that participants read the plays under consideration and are willing to take an active part in the class discussions. Some familiarity with and interest in contemporary drama will be helpful for this.

Wichtige Hinweise:
Credits: Only for literary studies!
aqTN/3 credit points: contributions to the seminar’s PANDA course (as specified at the beginning of the semester)
Prüfungsleistung Master of Education: oral exam at the beginning of the next semester (together with the other seminar in the module, including an additional, self-prepared play)
Prüfungsleistung MA English and American (Literary and Cultural) Studies / Englischsprachige Literatur und Kultur: Hausarbeit paper (including an additional, play not discussed in the seminar)
special case: MA English and American Studies / Englischsprachige Literatur und Kultur, 6 credit points (not Prüfungsleistung): longer contributions to the seminar work or a combination of shorter papers (by individual arrangement)