CMLIT 12Introduction to World Drama and Performance

3 credits · Comparative Literature · Penn State

The power, ethics, and excitement of drama and related forms of performance literature, presented in a global and comparative context. CMLIT 12 Introduction to World Drama and Performance (3) (GH;IL) (BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Introduction to World Drama will enable students to discover the power and excitement of drama in a global context. Students will encounter a variety of cultural contexts as they observe how playwrights portray local histories and lifestyles, in settings from many parts of the world. The course will offer (1) an introductory overview of concepts and terms associated with understanding drama. It will present (2) traditional dramatic forms such as tragedy, comedy, history play, allegory, Noh, etc., as seen in plays prior to the twentieth century; and (3) recent dramatic forms such as testimonial, other politically engaged plays, drama online or on film, etc., as seen in plays from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Attention will be given to (4) the dramatic contributions of multiple cultural groups in the U.S., with African American, Asian American, Latino, and other U.S. plays seen not in isolation, but in relation to world drama. Finally, (5) the course will consider ways in which drama, as a form of world literature, can have an international and intercultural impact, both in earlier periods and recently, when global circulation and international collaboration are increasingly frequent.