Meta theatre

6 ECTS credits
180 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4012322FNR for all students in the 1st semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Taught in

English

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

Linguistics and Literary Studies

Educational team

Janine Hauthal (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

12 contact hours Lecture
12 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
75 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course gives a critical introduction to the phenomenon of metatheatre as a theoretical and practical reflection on the literary genre of drama and the medium of the theatre (text). Adopting a literary and intermedial perspective, we will examine self-reflexivity in 21st-century plays and performances, focusing in particular on the cultural, aesthetic and political functions of self-reflexivity in contemporary Anglophone stage works.

Course material

Handbook (Required) : An Octoroon, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, 2de, Nick Hern Books, 2017, 9781848426412, 2019
Handbook (Required) : A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson, Theatre Communications Group, 2020, 9781559369930
Handbook (Required) : seven methods of killing kylie jenner, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Methuen Drama, 2021, 9781350277489
Handbook (Required) : Neighbours, Reimagining A Raisin in the Sun: Four New Plays, edited by Rebecca Ann Rugg and Harvey Young, pp. 305–403, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Northwestern UP, 2012, 0810128136, 2000
Handbook (Required) : Fairview, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Theatre Communications Group, 2019, 9781559369527, 1998
Handbook (Required) : We Are Proud to Present..., Complete Plays, introduced by David Greig 153-201, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Methuen Drama, 2021, 9781350146402, 2001
Handbook (Required) : Everybody, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dramatists Play Service, 2018, 9780822237228, 2019
Handbook (Required) : Tambo & Bones, Dave Harris, Nick Hern Books, 2023, 9781839042331, 2020
Digital course material (Required) : In addition, students will be asked to watch the recordings of one or two theatre performances in preparation for class. Access to the recordings will be made available through Canvas., Tom Stoppard, Faber&Faber, 9780571081820, 2000

Additional info

The course starts with an overview on the historical conventions of Aristotelian drama and 20th-century dramatic theatre before participants are familiarized with the specifics of African American cultural and theatrical contexts (from which the majority of texts are taken). Students will then be introduced to the main theoretical approaches to metadrama which they are subsequently invited to discuss and apply to plays by 21st-century African American authors including Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Dave Harris, and Michael R. Jackson. This course is taught in English. Assignments can be written in either English or Dutch.

Additional recommended reading:

Abel, Lionel. Tragedy and Metatheatre: Essays on Dramatic Form, edited and with an introduction by Martin Puchner. New York/London: Holmes & Meier, 2003 [1963]. [VUB library: 820 H 5 ABEL 2003]

Barnett, David. “When Is a Play Not a Drama? Two Examples of Postdramatic Theatre Texts.” New Theatre Quarterly 24.1 (2008): 14-23. [PDF on Canvas]

Hauthal, Janine. Metadrama und Theatralität: Gattungs- und Medienreflexion in zeitgenössischen englischen Theatertexten. Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2009. [VUB library: 820 H 5 HAUT 2009]

Hornby, Richard. Drama, Metadrama, and Perception. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1986. [VUB library: on order]

Jarcho, Julia. Writing and the Modern: Theater beyond Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2017. [VUB library: 792 G JARC 2017]

Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatisches Theater: Ein Essay. Frankfurt/M.: Verlag der Autoren, 2001 [1999]. [VUB library: 830 H 5 LEHM 2001] (English translation: Postdramatic Theatre, translated and with an introduction by Karen Jürs-Munby. London/New York: Routledge. https://monoskop.org/images/2/2d/Lehmann_Hans-Thies_Postdramatic_Theatre.pdf)

Poschmann, Gerda. Der nicht mehr dramatische Theatertext: Aktuelle Bühnenstücke und ihre dramaturgische Analyse. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1997. [VUB library: 830 H 5 POSC 97]

Puchner, Martin. Stage-Fright: Modernism, Anti-Theatricality, and Drama. Baltimore/London: The Johns Hopkins UP, 2002. [VUB library: 820 H 5 PUCH 2002]

Schmeling, Manfred. Métathéâtre et intertexte: Aspects du théâtre dans le théâtre. Paris: Lettres Modernes, 1982. [VUB library: 840 H 5 SCHM 82]

Swyzen, Claire, and Kurt Vanhoutte, editors. Het Statuut van de tekst in het postdramatische theater. UP Antwerp/ Academic and Scientific Publishers, 2011. [VUB library: 792 G SWYZ 2011]

Willis, Emma. Metatheatrical Dramaturgies of Violence: Staging the Role of Theatre. Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.[VUB library: ebook]

Worthen, W. B. Print and the Poetics of Modern Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2005. [VUB library: 820 H 5 WORT 2005]

Additional secondary sources will be provided via Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

General competences

Students can understand and explain various forms of genre- and medium-related self-reflexivity (metadrama/metatheatre) in 21st-century plays and theatre productions. In particular, they will gain a solid knowledge of how African American theatre (texts) make use of self-reflexive forms to reflect on and engage with historical legacies of presenting black bodies on stage. Students can critically assess both the primary material covered in this course and the scholarly work devoted to it. Students can formulate an original research project that addresses aesthetic, cultural and/or political functions of metatheatre by applying one or several aspect(s) from the theoretical framework in a close reading of a play or performance.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 20% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 30% of the final mark.
SELF Paper determines 50% of the final mark.

Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Oral Examination with a relative weight of 20 which comprises 20% of the final mark.

Note: Oral Exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 20% of the final mark.
Note: Oral exam with short presentation, primarily defence of research paper

Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Daily work_presentation with a relative weight of 30 which comprises 30% of the final mark.

Note: Written exercise (quiz) after the theoretical-methodological introduction with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 10% of the final marks, oral presentation (in group) with a relative weight of 1 which
comprises 10% of the final mark and Active participation in class with a relative weight of 1 which
comprises 10% of the final mark.
Note: Permanent evaluation

Within the SELF Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Paper with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Note: Paper with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 50% of the final mark.
Note: Research paper

Additional info regarding evaluation

Students are encouraged to take advantage of the interactive tools at their disposal on the e-learning platform CANVAS. Together with their contributions to in-class discussions this will constitute the participatory grade (10%).

A second course requirement pertains to a written exam (quiz) after the theoretical-methodological introduction (10%) as well as an oral presentation (in group) (10%), in which students will practice applying and critically assessing an aspect of the theoretical-methodological framework to the course material (close reading of one scene).

Thirdly, students will be asked to write a 3,000 to 5,000-word research paper (50%) that addresses one (or several) dimension(s) of self-reflexivity in a play or theatre production of their own choice (a list with recommendations will be provided in class) by critically engaging with the scholarly work devoted to it. Based on this paper, students will be asked to prepare a 5-minute individual presentation at the oral exam (20%), so as to orally defend their research paper.

No submission or late submission will result in 0/20 for the each component of the evaluation.

For the paper, it is permitted to use generative AI only for brainstorming. Any use of generative AI should be properly referenced.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context