AJ15077 American drama and theatre before 1945

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Tomáš Kačer, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jana Chamonikolasová, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Thu 14:00–15:40 G23
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination || AJ01002 Practical English II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 12 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/12, only registered: 0/12, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/12
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
To gain knowledge about a lesser known period of the history of American literature (early American drama), to learn about various dramatic/theatrical styles, to be able to analyse and critically assess a literary text, to learn the specifics of reading a work of drama, to be able to interpret a historical literary text based on the knowledge of the context of its origin.
Learning outcomes
- analyze an early dramatic script - identify various dramatic and theatrical styles - learn about a history of various genres and themes in the American popular culture
Syllabus
  • Week 1. Introduction to course policies and assignments. The beginnings. R. Hunter: Androboros (1714; excerpts)
  • Week 2. Colonial drama; early forms; drama of the Revolution. T. Payne: A Dialogue Between the Ghost of General Montgomery Just Arrived from the Elysian Fields; and an American Delegate, in a Wood Near Philadelphia (1776); M. Otis Warren: The Adulateur (1772)
  • Week 3. The Yankee on the stage. R. Tyler: The Contrast (1790)
  • Week 4. Romanticism and Indian plays. W. Dunlap: André (1798); J. A. Stone: Metamora (1829)
  • Week 5. Social comedy, melodrama. A. C. Mowatt: Fashion (1845); A. Daly: Under the Gaslight (1867)
  • Week 6. Melodrama and social reform. G. L. Aiken: Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852); D. Boucicault: The Octoroon (1859)
  • Week 7. Popular theatre; post-bellum America. D. Boucicault & J. Jefferson: Rip Van Winkle (1865); B. Howard: Shenandoah (1888)
  • Week 8. Realism and Broadway shows. J. A. Herne: Margaret Fleming (1890); C. Fitch: The Gamblers (1896)
  • Week 9. Modernism and Expressionism. S. Glaspell: Trifles (1916); E. Rice: The Adding Machine (1923)
  • Week 10. American drama coming of age. E. O’Neill: Emperor Jones (1920), Desire under the Elms (1924)
Literature
  • ROBINSON, Marc, 2009. The American play: 1787-2000. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11649-6.
  • Watt, Steven and Gary A. Richardson. American Drama: Colonial to Contemporary. New York: Heinle & Heinle, 1994.
  • Richards, Jeffrey H. Early American Drama. New York: Penguin, 1997.
  • REBHORN, Matthew. Pioneer performances : staging the frontier. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, x, 207. ISBN 9780199751303. info
  • REBHORN, Matthew. Pioneer performances : staging the frontier. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, x, 207. ISBN 9780199751303. info
  • NATHANS, Heather S. Slavery and sentiment on the American stage, 1787-1861 : lifting the veil of black. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009, xi, 275. ISBN 9780521870115. info
  • SHAFFER, Jason. Performing patriotism : national identity in the colonial and revolutionary American theater. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007, 230 s. ISBN 9780812240245. info
  • RICHARDS, Jeffrey H. Drama, theatre and identity in the American New Republic. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, xi, 392. ISBN 0521066689. info
  • WALKER, Julia A. Expressionism and modernism in the American theatre : bodies, voices, words. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, xii, 300. ISBN 9780521847476. URL info
  • FRICK, John W. Theatre, culture and temperance reform in nineteenth-century America. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, xiii, 256. ISBN 9780521817783. info
  • Nineteenth century American plays : seven plays including The black crook. Edited by Myron Matlaw. New York: Applause, 2001, 511 stran. ISBN 1557834644. info
  • Best plays of the early American theatre, 1787-1911. Edited by Mollie Gassner - John Gassner. First published. Mineola, New York: Dover Pubications, Inc., 2000, xlviii, 71. ISBN 0486410986. info
  • WATT, Stephen and Gary A. RICHARDSON. American drama : colonial to contemporary. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995, vii, 1157. ISBN 0155000039. info
  • TAUBMAN, H. Howard. The making of the American theatre. New York: Coward McCann, 1965, 385 p. info
Teaching methods
lecture; close reading; in-class discussion; analysi of A/V materials
Assessment methods
In-class participation (25%); 5 response papers (25%); final paper 5-7 pages (50%).
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Teacher's information
https://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf3/course/view.php?id=3359
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2015, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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