DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DRAMA
FALL 2008 COURSES

TD 911. Theory and Practice in Modern Indian Theatre:
Language, Culture, Performance, and Media
Professor Aparna Dharwadker
Thursdays 2:30-5:30, 4008 Vilas Hall

Note : This advanced graduate seminar would be of interest to students studying South Asia, India, postcolonial studies, theatre and performance, theatre theory and criticism, comparative modern drama, the politics of cultural forms, media, and visual culture (to name some possible areas).

Course Description

A modern urban theatre has existed in India since the mid-nineteenth century, and its overall history offers a remarkably extensive view of the interpenetration of two major systems of theatrical representation--Indian and European, classical/traditional and modern, anti-realistic and realistic, provincial and metropolitan. This course will consider the features of theatrical modernity that emerged during the colonial period (circa 1850-1940) and have continued in postcolonial times (1947 onward), but will also attend to the many important respects in which the field of post-independence urban theatre is an historically unprecedented formation. Students will become thoroughly familiar with the major theatrical forms, directing styles, genres, theatre theories, critical perspectives, and sociopolitical contexts of the modern period in India, while also being able to pursue comparative frameworks and specific critical interests. Our discussion will cover material written originally in English, as well as material from several other Indian languages that is available in English translation.

Playwrights to be studied include Rabindranath Tagore, Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar, Utpal Dutt, Girish Karnad, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahasweta Devi, and Mahesh Dattani.

 

For more information about course materials and assignments, contact Professor Dharwadker at adharwadker@wisc.edu, or by phone at 833-1451.