CURSO : DRAMA
SIGLA : LET 1745
CRÉDITOS : 10
MÓDULOS : 02
REQUISITOS : --
CARÁCTER : MINIMUM
I. DESCRIPTION
This course will study a corpus of dramatic texts that represents the different tendencies of English and
American XX century theatre. Realism will be analyzed through O'Neill, Miller and Williams, the Absurd
through Beckett and Pinter, and postmodern theatre will be examined through Churchill. Theory of drama will
be studied from different approaches, mainly semiotics.
II. OBJECTIVES
1. To provide a coherent and comprehensive framework for the analysis of plays: dramatic and theatrical.
2. To understand the diverse and complex forms that XXth century drama explores and defines.
3. To establish influences and relationships between the different dramatic movements.
4. To analyze drama not only as a literary form but also as a system of signs on the stage.
III. CONTENTS
1. Semiotics of the text, semiotics of the performance.
2. Dramatis personae/figure, dramatic dialogue: functions and verbal communication. Stage directions.
3. Structures of time and space: conventions and changes. Historical contexts.
4. Realism, Theatre of the Absurd, Postmodern Theatre, Feminist Theatre.
IV. METHODOLOGY
- Lectures.
- Workshops.
- Power point presentations.
- Oral reports.
- Dramatic readings.
V. EVALUATION
- Written work and oral work.
- Theatre Review.
- Tests.
VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dramatic Texts
O'Neill, Eugene Long Day's Journey into Night. New Haven:Yale UP, 1956.
Miller, Arthur Death of a Salesman. The Norton Introduction to Lit. New York:
Norton, 1987.
Williams, Tennessee A Street Car Named Desire. London: Methuen, 1984.
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PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
FACULTAD DE LETRAS / Enero 2008
Beckett, Samuel Waiting for Godot. London: Faber and Faber, 1986.
Albee, Edward The Zoo Story. Concise Anthology of American Lit. New York:
Macmillan, 1985.
Pinter, Harold The Caretaker. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
Mamet, David Oleanna. London: Methuen, 1993.
Churchill, Caryl Top Girls. London: Methuen, 1991.
Theory and Criticism
Aston Elaine and George Savona Theatre as a Sign System. London: Routledge, 1991.
Aston, Alaine Caryl Churchill. London: Northcote House Publishers, 2001.
An Introduction to Feminism and Theatre. London: Routledge,
1995.
Bigsby, C.W. E. Modern American Drama, 1945-2000. U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2000.
Bloom, Harold. Ed. Tennessee Willliams's A Street Car Named Desire. New York:
Chelsea House Publishers, 1988.
Brandt, George W. Ed. Modern Theories of Drama. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.
Coolidge, Olivia Eugene O'Neill. New York: Scribners, 1966.
Elam, Keir Semiotics of the Theatre and Drama. London: Methuen, 1980.
Esslin, Martin The Theatre of the Absurd. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1968.
Ganz, Arthur. Ed. Pinter: A Collection of Critical Essays. NJ: Prentice Hall Inc.,
1972.
Graver, Lawrence. Beckett's Waiting for Godot. U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1989.
Hudgins, Christopher and Leslie Kane, Ed.
Gender &Genre: Essays on David Mamet. New York: Palgrave,
2001.
Pavis, Patrice. Trad. Fernando de Toro Diccionario del teatro. Barcelona: Paidos, 1980.
Pfister, Manfred The Theory and Analysis of Drama. U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1988.
Raby, Peter. Ed. The Cambridge Companion to Harold Pinter. U.K.: Cambridge UP,
2001.
Styan, J. L. Modern Drama in Theory and Practice. U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1981.
(A selection of critical essays to be provided by the teacher during the semester)
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PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CHILE
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