Ateneo - UPO

TRAJECTORIES IN CONTEMPORARY THEATER AND CINEMA THROUGH THE LENS OF RACIAL; ETHNIC AND HISTORICAL ALTERITY

Lecturers' Handouts on DIR * Medievalism: Key Critical Concepts, edited by Elizabeth Emery and Richard Utz, Brewer, 2017 * Medieval Theatre Performance: Actors, Dancers, Automata and Their Audiences, edited by Philip Butterworth and Katie Normington, Brewer, 2017 * Renaissance du théâtre médiéval, Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 2013 * Visualizing Medieval Performance, edited by Elina Gertsman, Routledge, 2008
* * Storia del teatro. Le idee e le forme dello spettacolo dall’antichità a oggi, a cura di Luigi Allegri, Carocci, 2017.

Investigating the performative and spectacular forms of the contemporary age from different perspectives of alterity: the (self-)representation of black, African or Afro-descendant subjects in cinema; the representation and reactivation of medieval alterity, and its uses and functions in the modern and contemporary age

Good knowledge of English and French.

Lectures; viewing and discussion of visual materials.

This program is designed to be consistent with Goals 4, 5, 16) of the UNESCO 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Quality Education, Reducing Gender Gap; Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Oral examination; a paper of about 10 pages, including the use of at least 2 scholarly sources; an swering 3 questions provided by the lecturer; 1 report of a play or performance seen by the student.

Comparative history of medieval theater, focusing on specific genres (comedy-farce, religious theater, etc.) and on technical and scenic aspects; the presence of medieval and medievalist performance forms, texts and re-enactmentson the contemporary stage. The gradual emergence of discriminated minorities within the major film industries (U.S., France, U.K., etc.) and the increasing prominence of African and Afro-descendant characters; aspects of African film history, focussing on some of the continent's major filmmakers.

Ability to read a medieval and medievalist theatrical text in its technical, performative, directorial and acting aspects, as well as in its textual aspects.
Ability to critically question the forms of the "taste for the Middle Ages" and the "dream of the Middle Ages" in contemporary society.
To be able to find one's own bearings in the evolution of audiovisual language and the changes in society during the 20th century and beyond, particularly with regard to the (self-)representation of "black" racialized alterity or African identities.