ENGL 20002 - Honors Intermediate Seminar

Institution:

Ithaca College

Subject:

English

Description:

In this course, we will examine a series of 20th and early 21st-century dramas that fit within the general category we will call ¿the history play.¿ The defining features of this genre may seem obvious at first glance: to qualify, a drama must feature historically real characters who are engaged in events that really occurred. Yet it won¿t take us long to see how fluid this category actually is, and we will devote a fair bit of energy to defining and redefining its borders. The problem surely is connected to the question of how one defines ¿history,¿ a concept that is not itself static. It wasn¿t until the 19th century that historians came to detach their discipline from other humanist enterprises and regard themselves as scientists of sorts, dedicated to the rigorous uncovering of ¿facts.¿ And of course, the very instant that modern history was born, philosophers and artists set about rebelling against its certainty, denying the possibility that the past could be recaptured ¿as it really happened.¿ In this course, therefore, we will examine the ways in which our dramas choose to enact the past, interrogating what such choices tell us about each work¿s implicit or explicit understanding of what constitutes ¿history.¿ Readings will include some or all of the following: Shaw, Saint Joan; Brecht, Mother Courage and Her Children; O¿Casey, The Plough and the Stars; Friel, Translations; Churchill, Top Girls; McGuinness, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme; Smith, Fires in the Mirror; Kushner, Angels in America, Parts I and II; Frayn, Copenhagen: Stoppard, Arcadia.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.ithaca.edu

Phone Number:

(607) 274-3011

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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