Module ENGL2A11: Pre-Modern Drama in Textual Scholarship and Performance Practice

Department: English Studies

ENGL2A11: Pre-Modern Drama in Textual Scholarship and Performance Practice

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• Understanding of pre-modern drama in performance practice.
• Understanding of early printing formats and types of early source material.
• Awareness of the way in which literary texts are mediated and interpreted by editors: understanding of modern editorial conventions that govern texts, and critical reflection of the impact of such conventions on textual interpretation and performance.
• Advanced ability regarding close reading, with analytical sensitivity to both the spoken word and non-verbal elements.
• Basic familiarity with early modern handwriting.
• Critical awareness of early modern performance conditions.
• Placement of a play within the contexts of its time, its history, and its legacy.

Content

• Students will directly encounter an original playtext as it was produced in the period 1550-1700. They will engage with this play in a twofold manner: as a performance-based project and as an editorial project. Taught by a team of academics, students will learn how to deal with the raw prime material in original spelling and appearance, unmediated by modern interventions which are designed to make an early text more accessible yet often gloss over difficulties and ambiguities inherent in the source. Rather than consuming a sanitized modern-spelling edition, students will actively reflect on the processes that lead to an early playtext’s transformation into a staged production or a modern edition.
• To these ends, the module will focus on one non-canonical dramatic text of the period 1550-1700. Typically, this work’s author(s) will be largely unknown; it will not be available in a recent modern-spelling edition; criticism will be limited. This will enable students to encounter drama in a fresh and original critical manner.
• This play will be read scene-by-scene over ten sessions. Sessions will be taught by the respective specialists.
• Individual sessions will focus on a particular topic or methodological approach, such as: staged recitals; music; costumes and props; editing; comparison to literary analogues; early modern handwriting; composing a business case for a theatre production.
• Students will be issued with a hard copy of the playtext (usually from a 16th- or 17th-century printed edition in original spelling). They will be expected to work with this copy and annotate it extensively.
• Students will be introduced to current editorial guidelines of leading international series dedicated to early modern drama.
• Students will be introduced to acting and elocution techniques, as well as early modern performance conventions.
• Collaboration with Durham’s special collections at Palace Green will introduce students to physical manuscripts and prints, and familiarize them with the resources at Joanna Barker Library.

Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of formal, practical and aesthetic dimensions of early modern drama and its mediation in modern versions.
• Knowledge of different critical perspectives and methodologies in the areas of theatre history, performance practice, literary studies, editing.

• A sensitivity to the shaping effects on communication of historical circumstances, and to the affective power of language in performance.
• A command of a broad range of appropriate critical terminology.

• An ability to acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
• A competence in the planning and execution of essays.
• Capacity for independent thought and judgement, and ability to assess the critical ideas of others.
• Effective communication and articulate argument, orally and in writing.
• Organisation and time-management skills.

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

• The seminar module is team-taught by specialists who lead specific sessions on matters such as acting, editing, close textual analysis etc.
• These encourage students to interactive analysis and debate, which in turn are informed by, and feed back into, independent thinking.
• Essay consultation session: encourages students to reflect critically and independently on their work.
• Summative coursework: two assessed essays test the students’ ability to present subject-specific knowledge, to select appropriate material, to construct and manage clear and effective arguments, and to demonstrate independent thinking; in this way, the essays test that students have achieved the stated learning outcomes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Before the first essay deadline, students benefit from an individual consultation session in which they can show an essay outline or points of argument. The consultation session may also be used to discuss both summative essays.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.