DRAMA 582 A: Analysis Of Dramatic Texts

This course studies Marxism and related contemporary socio-political theories in historical context and in relation to theater and film. Following generally chronological order, we will examine classical Marxism, neo-Marxism, and related theories, with the latter including discourse theory, materialist feminism, and post-colonialist theory. We will study the major definitions of and debates around ideology; the political subject; art as social and economic practice; historical consciousness, context, agency, and change; mass culture and high culture--as they relate to theater and film. Certain historical moments will be orientation points for the writers and artists we will study: the French Revolution, colonialism, the communist revolutions in Russia and Germany, fascism and the World Wars, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, and the postcolonial era of global capitalism.