UBKKDBK002 Theater in the Context of West Culture

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2024
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Jana Cindlerová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Jana Cindlerová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Jana Cindlerová, Ph.D.
Institute of The Czech Language and Library Science – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Prerequisites
-
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to familiarize the students with the main stages of the development of world theatre, or theater art, from its well-known beginnings to the end of the 19th century: i.e. with the changes in theatrical language from the initial formation of theatricality to the emergence of modern theater in the period of realism and its transition to the period of modernism, hand in hand with changes in the functions of the theater in individual historical epochs. An essential part of understanding the development process and its broad issues is the deepening of sensitivity to the dramatic texts of individual epochs, to their motivic structure, themes, composition, language - as well as their perception in relation to the forms of theater (i.e. theatrical realizations) in the course of history and its own developmental stages.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, the student will be able to:
- identify and summarize the important features of the main periods of the history of Western theatre;
- identify and describe the key dramatic and theatrical texts of the discussed epochs;
- write an essay on the topic of the chosen theatrical phenomenon;
- describe the factors that influenced the development of Western European theatre;
Syllabus
  • 1. The origin and essence of theater. Sources of theater (play, ritual, myth, dance, masks, narrative, holiday, custom); theatricality and theatre, theater and culture; the theater of the everyday.
  • 2. Dramatic, classical drama; tragic and comic, Dionysian and Apollonian. Singing and storytelling, oral traditions - myth and epic, Homer, the oldest theatrical (??) texts, mysteries, drama.
  • 3. Ancient theater; transformations of the theater, its types and functions, a source of later inspiration. Theater festivities: organization, audience, space, actors, music and dance, costumes, masks; Hellenistic and Roman theater; today's production of antiquity.
  • 4. Medieval theater and drama; carnival, folk culture and theater.
  • 5. Types of Italian theater and drama since the Renaissance; theater space, scenography. Intermezza, court theater, learned, folk, dance, singing, art, comedy dell'arte.
  • 6. English Theater and Drama; theater professionals; Shakespeare. Ensemble types, funding and government regulation of theatre.
  • 7. Spanish theater and drama; religious and educational theater; baroque. Autos sacramentale, Jesuit theater, Comenius, Europeans: Don Quixote, Don Juan, Faust.
  • 8. French theater and drama 1500-1800; origin, duration and changes of style. What affects the formation of theater? Normative aesthetics, politics, philosophy, competition (official vs. unofficial theaters), monopolies, organization of acting companies, acting reforms, writings about theater.
  • 9. German theater and drama and its reforms; phenomenon of national theaters (playwright's function).
  • 10. European theater and drama from 1800 to the beginnings of modern theatre; artistic x popular theater (from romanticism to realism). Types, genres: drama, melodrama, vaudeville, burlesque, farce. Theater operation: star system, technical innovations and theatre.
  • 11. Forms of realistic drama; illusory theater.
  • 12. The Great Theater Reform (from Wagner to Modernism); new drama and production theater. New means of expression, theater artist - director; illusory and anti-illusory theatre.
  • 13. Accentuation of development lines in the course of epochs (changes in forms of text, direction, scenography, theater architecture, acting). Required reading: BRAUN, K. The Second Theater Reform? Prague: Theater Institute, 1993. BROCKETT, O. G. History of the Theatre. Prague: Lidové noviny Publishing House, 1999. CÍSAŘ, J. Overview of Czech theater history. Prague: NAMU, 2006, 2009. CÍSAŘ, J. Development of theater language. České Budějovice: Regional Cultural Center České Budějovice, 1990. ČERNÝ, F. (ed.) History of the Czech Theater I, II, III, IV. Prague: Academia, 1968, 1969, 1977, 1983. STEHLÍKOVÁ, E. Ancient theatre. Prague: Charles University – Karolinum, 2005. Recommended literature: BROOK, P. The Moving Point: Forty Years of Theater Research 1946-1987. Prague: Studio Ypsilon Publishing House, 1996. BROOK, P. Empty space. Prague: Panorama, 1988. HYVNAR, J. Actor in the Modern Theatre. Prague: Prague Scene, 2000. LEHMANN, H. T. Post-dramatic theatre. Bratislava: Theater Institute, 2007. PAVIS, P. Theatrical dictionary: dictionary of theatrical terms. Prague: Theater Institute, 2003. SCHERHAUFER, P. Reader in the history of theater directing: from Goethe and Schiller to Reinhardt. Bratislava: NOC, 1998. SCHERHAUFER, P. A book on the history of theater directing: from Neanderthal to Meiningen. Bratislava: NOC, 1998. SCHERHAUFER, P. A book on the history of theater directing: from the Futurists to Eisenstein. Bratislava: Theater Institute, 1999.
Teaching methods (in Czech)
Přednáška, seminář.
Assessment methods (in Czech)
Účast na seminářích (75 %). Aktivní a podnětná účast při diskusích a analýzách. Orientace v doporučené literatuře. Přehled o aktuálním českém divadelním kontextu. Dobrá orientace v jednotlivých etapách kulturních dějin. Obecná znalost české a světové literatury, dramatické literatury zvlášť. Plnění tvůrčích úkolů zadávaných během semestru. Seminární práce (cca 5–10 normostran textu).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 8p+4s/sem.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2022, Winter 2023.
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