FT2IPC-Identity, Performance and Culture

Module Provider: Film, Theatre and TV
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:5
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Matt McFrederick
Email: m.mcfrederick@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

On this module, you will explore the construction, representation and theatrical performance of diverse modes of identity such as gender, sexuality, class, nation, ethnicity or disability.  We will consider how these intersect with the performance of identity in culture more generally, asking how theatre and performance can both reinforce particular identity positions and stereotypes, and can also expose or contest narrow, oppressive or exclusionary identity positions. We will investigate the work of theatre practitioners in relation to specific socio-historical, theoretical and theatrical frameworks, and will consider a range of performance forums such as public installations. 

Aims:

• To cultivate an understanding of the construction, representation and performance of diverse modes of identity in theatre and in culture more generally, including, for example, gender, sexuality, class, nation, ethnicity or disability.  


• To gain an understanding of how theatre and culture more generally intervenes in the construction, representation and performance of identities to reinforce identity positions and / or to interrogate them.  


• To develop appropriate critical and theoretical frameworks for analysing the performance of identity in theatre and culture more generally.  


• To develop skills of close textual and performance analysis, along with an understanding of the shifting local, national and global contexts that have informed playwrights, theatre makers and theatre cultures. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

• Analyse in both oral and written media the construction and performance of identity in theatre and culture more generally, in relation to diverse national and transnational cultural and historical contexts.  


• Employ a range of appropriate critical and theoretical frameworks in order to analyse the performance of identity / identities.  


• Understand the concept of performativity, in relation to both text and performance, as a means of interrogating essentialist notions of identity and the body in performance. 


• Engage in reflexive thinking and independent critical and analytical skills. 


• Relate play texts, theatrical practices and cultural performances to wider national, social, cultural and political movements (e.g. feminism); 


• Make informed use of interpretative fram eworks introduced or extended in the module (e.g. concepts of ideology) in the analysis of texts, practices and productions; 


• Identify some of the main relationships between theatre practices and the institutional and production contexts in which they occur; 


• Demonstrate skills of performance analysis, through detailed consideration of both live and recorded productions. 

Additional outcomes:

The module plays a significant role in the continuing development of other skills and competencies which are central to the course. It is expected that the level of skills and competencies achieved in the following will be appropriate to the level of study: oral communication and argument in group situations; deployment of research using printed and electronic resources; critical analysis and coherent argument in both oral and written forms; undertaking self-directed, independent work; presentation of written work using IT; identifying and addressing problems in the analysis of theatre. 

Outline content:

The course will begin with an exploration of ideologies of gender and performance, including the study of key feminist texts (such as the work of Caryl Churchill), and the analysis of femininity, masculinity and queer identities in a range of theatre texts and performances. The course will then study a range of the following depending on staff availability: questions of a national theatre, issues of disability and performance, and the performance or interrogation of norms of embodiment; the p erformance of class identity and how this might have changed over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; the construction and performance of race, and the impact of migration or diaspora on questions of identity. 

Global context:

The ways in which diasporic and transnational identities are complicating unitary or exclusive identity formations is a major issue globally and will be explored in this module. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The normal teaching pattern will consist of one lecture and an hour and a half seminar per week. There will be at least one visit to a performance as an important part of the module, and this will inform lectures and seminar discussion, as well as reading plays and critical material. Where relevant, film and television screenings will be arranged. 

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures		9
Seminars		13.5
External visits		9
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)		18
Wider reading (directed)		18
Preparation for seminars		27
Completion of formative assessment tasks		35.5
Essay preparation		70
Total hours by term	0	200	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	100

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

A series of assessed journal entries submitted by the end of term.

1 x essay beginning of next term.  

Formative assessment methods:

Oral feedback is regularly given in seminars.  

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

A mark of 40% overall

Reassessment arrangements:

Submission of additional coursework.

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1. Required text books: None


2. Specialist equipment or materials: None


3. Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: None


4. Printing and binding: None


5. Computers and devices with a particular specification: None


6. Travel, accommodation and subsistence: One theatre trip (approx. £25-40) 

Last updated: 12 October 2021