Download AN32005BA03 The Theatre of the Absurd and After

AN32005BA03 The Theatre of the Absurd and After/sp10
Required optional, BA 3rd year
seminar, 2 hrs, graded
Wed, 18.00-19.40, room 119
Bertha Csilla
office: 105
office hours: Wed. 15.00-15.50
Thu. 15.00-15.50
[email protected]
This course introduces the students to the cultural phenomenon named the “theatre of the
absurd”, hoping to provide them with the necessary skills to read absurd or absurdist plays.
Although the label, “the theatre of the absurd”, only very loosely fits in most cases, the
course focuses on plays traditionally regarded as, or defined by their relationship to, the
absurd (e.g. Stoppard’s drama as “post-absurd”). Discussions will include plays by S.
Beckett, H. Pinter, and T. Stoppard, with occasional glances at, and comparisons with,
Central-European absurd or absurdist plays, focusing both on the philosophical context and
the form of drama and theatre. Close reading will unearth some of the philosophical, political,
moral, religious, etc. meanings of the selected plays while it will also attempt to enable
students to read and appreciate the theatrical means and devices and their meaning-making
capacities. Differences between the dramatic / literary language and the theatrical / visual and
aural language will be highlighted, partly with the help of watching recordings of some
performances.
SCHEDULE:
1. 3rd Feb
Introduction: the Theatre of the Absurd
2. 10th Feb
S. Beckett: “Act Without Words I"
excerpts from M.Esslin The Theatre of the Absurd 19-28.
3. 17th Feb
S. Beckett: Waiting for Godot;
Gontarski, “Birth astride a grave…”
th
4. 24 Feb
S. Beckett: Endgame
Zeifman, “Religious Imagery in the Plays of Samuel Beckett”
rd
5. 3 March. S. Beckett: “Play”; "Come and Go"; "Not I";
Beckerman, “Beckett and the Act of Listening”, 149-57.
th
6. 10 March S. Beckett: "Rockaby"; "Ohio Impromptu";
Beckerman, “Beckett and the Act of Listening”, 161-66.
th
7. 17 March S. Beckett: "Act Without Words II"; "Catastrophe";
S. Mrozek: Striptease
excerpts from P. Müller, Central European
8. 24th March H. Pinter: The Caretaker
G.J.Watson, “Beckett and Pinter: Empty Spaces and Closed Rooms”
9. -----------------------10. 7th April
Consultation week
---------------------
H. Pinter: Homecoming
Buse, “Home front – Pinter with Freud”
11. 14th April H. Pinter: "Mountain Language," One for the Road
G. Páskándi: The Line, No Conductor
Cs. Bertha, “Páskándi Géza angolul”
12. 21st April T. Stoppard: Rozencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead
Ch. Innes: “Tom Stoppard: theatricality and the comedy of ideas”
13. 28th April End-term test
REQUIREMENTS
Class participation: is necessary for obtaining marks above three and it will be evaluated
based upon the quality and frequency of contributions;
Journal: should record the students’ encounter with and responses (opinions, impressions,
questions raised) to the works read. Journal entries should be 250-300 words on an
A4 sheet of paper for each class unless an essay or test is due and will be checked
several times during the term. They will not be graded, but their quality will influence
the final mark;
Short tests: a short test enquiring into the plot or asking for some interpretation/analysis of
the text(s) read for that class can be expected at the beginning of any class;
End-term test: a test consisting of questions inquiring into any part of the material covered
during the course.
TEXTS:
Plays:
Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot, Endgame, "Act Without Words I", Act Without Words
II", “Play”, "Come and Go", "Not I", "Rockaby", "Ohio Impromptu", "Catastrophe",
“What Where”
Harold Pinter: The Caretaker, Homecoming, One for the Road, "Mountain Language"
Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Slavomir Mrozek: Striptease
Géza Páskándi: The Line (A sor), No Conductor (Kalauz nélkül)
Critical reading:
Beckerman, Bernard: “Beckett and the Act of Listening.” Beckett at 80 / Beckett in Context.
Oxford: Oxford UP, 1986. 149-67.
Bertha, Csilla: “’New York számára teljesen új hang’ – Páskándi Géza drámái angolul”.
Korunk, XIX,8 (2008 aug.):81-85.
Buse, Peter. “Home front – Pinter with Freud.” Drama + Theory. Manchester: Manchester
UP, 2001. 30-49.
Esslin, Martin: “The Absurdity of the Absurd.” The Theatre of the Absurd. Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1968, 19-28
Innes, Christopher, “Tom Stoppard: theatricality and the comedy of ideas.” Modern British
Drama, 1890-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. 325-46.
Morse, Donald E.: "Ditches of Hell: Csaba Lászlóffy's The Heretic; or, A Plague of Slugs."
Theatre Journal, 43 (1991):209-218.
Müller, Peter. Central European Playwrights Within and Without the Absurd. Pécs: JLTE
TK, 1996. excerpts
Zeifman, Hersh. “Religious Imagery in the Plays of Samuel Beckett.” In Samuel Beckett. A
Collection of Criticism. Ed. Ruby Cohn. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. 85-94.
Watson, G.J. “Beckett and Pinter: Empty Spaces and Closed Rooms” and short pieces on the
Central European absurd
Availability of texts:
The full-length plays are available in the library, Beckett’s short plays in Collected Shorter
Plays of Samuel Beckett. London: Faber, 1984. Central European plays and all the
essays in the course packet.
Grading policy:
Class participation
Short tests
End-term test
30%
20%
50%
Absences
Maximum three absences are permitted by university regulations. However, without serious
cause (e.g. illness or official trip abroad) the second and third absence will each result in
losing 5 % of your overall achievement.