Module CLAS2951: NEW COMEDY AND THE MASK

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2951: NEW COMEDY AND THE MASK

Prerequisites

• CLAS1601 Remembering Athens or modules of equivalent relevance offered by other Boards of Studies.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To study plays of Menander (and where relevant selected extracts of his Roman imitators) and the visual evidence related to them in terms of performance.
• To gain an awareness of a range of theoretical and practical approaches relevant to these texts and to theatre-related artefacts.

Content

• The module studies the plays of Menander and his Roman imitators as performance documents, and the masks and theatre iconography related to them. It investigates ancient performance practice and conventions as they can be recovered from this evidence, and in particular the practice and conventions of mask design and masked acting. It provides an introduction to a range of approaches relevant to such material, including conversation analysis, semiotics, performance criticism, physiognomy and the science of facial perception.
• The playtexts and artefacts will be covered in considerable detail in lectures. Practical workshop sessions will provide opportunities to engage with the texts and masks and performance issues relating to them. Comment assignments, tutorials and portfolio work will focus on the potential of texts and artefacts in combination to illuminate issues relating to the use of the mask in performance.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of translated texts of Menander and his Roman imitators, and performance issues relevant to them.
• Knowledge of the mask miniatures and other theatre iconography relating to New Comedy.
• Knowledge of a range of theoretical and practical approaches to masked performance and theatre-related artefacts.

• Ability to understand and interpret texts of Greek New Comedy in terms of its performance tradition.
• Ability to interpret theatre-related artefacts in terms of their performance tradition and as objects within material culture.

• Ability to use both primary and secondary sources to interpret texts and artefacts; to use texts and theatre-related artefacts as a means of understanding performance practice; to evaluate the arguments of others and to produce arguments of one's own in support of a given case.
• Increased familiarity with techniques of analysing texts, performance, images and objects, and presenting the results in writing.
• Enhancement of research and writing techniques in preparation for more sophisticated work (including the final-year dissertation).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will provide detailed analysis of comic performance texts and of theatre-related artefacts. Workshop/practical sessions will provide opportunities to engage with the texts and artefacts and interpretative issues through various activities undertaken in both practical and discursive contexts.
• Formative comment assignments will enable engagement with textual and iconographic evidence relating to the mask in Greek comic performance; a summative portfolio will develop the skills so far acquired by engaging critically with textual and iconographic evidence relevant to a specific issue of performance or concerning theatre-related artefacts. Summative reports will develop skills of reflection and analysis of the content and outcomes of practical/workshop sessions. Tutorials will provide feedback during this process.
• The examination will assess students' familiarity with the texts of comedies covered in the lectures, and with the artefacts relating to them; their ability to identify approaches to performance illuminating details of those texts; and will test the general sophistication of their analysis. enter text as appropriate for the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

1 x picture comment (Michaelmas Term); 1 x text comment (Epiphany Term). No collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University