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HU Credits:
2
Degree/Cycle:
1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department:
Theatre Studies
Semester:
2nd Semester
Teaching Languages:
Hebrew
Campus:
Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator:
Dr. Elena Mucciarelli
Coordinator Office Hours:
Teaching Staff:
Dr. Elena Mucciarelli
Course/Module description:
India has one of the richest and longest performative tradition of the world and a longstanding discourse on theater. This course provide a unique opportunity to learn about the main theatrical forms still practiced today (as Kathakali, Yakshagana, Ramlila) and to focus on Kutiyattam, an exceptional case from Kerala (South India). This practice dates back to the 10th century CE and lingers on the threshold between aesthetic and religion, between ritual and theatre.
There is always a ritual element in a theater performance and theoretical component in a ritual act. Why do we separate between these two? What are their intersections and differences? We will tackle these questions under empirical and theoretical perspectives using the vantage point of Indian traditions where ritual and theater have always blurred into each other.
Course/Module aims:
This course serves two purposes: on the one hand to confront the students with a far and different cultural tradition, and on the other to encourage them to reflect and question their understanding of the concepts of theater and ritual.
These two purposes are interrelated. The analysis of a distant culture, with its differences and similarities, is crucial to a better comprehension of one’s own cultural dynamics. At the same time the theoretical approach set us free on the road of interpretation and abstraction.
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
The students are expected to:
- Present the main Indian theatrical traditions within their historical and cultural backgrounds.
- Outline the characteristic features of each tradition.
- Define a performative act according to the main theories in the field.
- Identify ritual elements within a performative act.
- Examine two Indian theatrical tradition according to the main theoretical streams in Performative and Ritual Studies.
- Enhance their capacity to concentrate by listening.
- Finally they are expected to perform a ritual.
Attendance requirements(%):
100
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
Frontal classes, presentations, common discussion of the basic primary (in translation) and secondary literature, assignments, video material.
Course/Module Content:
Brief introduction to the highly diversified Indian cultural background and the position occupied by theater performative traditions in it.
Most significant ritual theories, with a special focus on Indian ritual.
Theories dealing with the interaction between ritual and theater performance.
Study of Kutiyattam.
Ritual parts and components in Kutiyattam
---- Further details soon.
Required Reading:
Handelman, Don. 1998. Models and Mirrors. Berghahn Books.
Richmond, Farley P, Darius L Swann, and Phillip B Zarrilli. 1993. Indian Theatre. Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Shulman, David Dean. 2016. “Deep Seeing: on the Poetics of Kūṭiyāṭṭam .” In The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, ed. by Arindam Chakrabarti, 221–48, London.
Smith, Frederick M. 2012. The Self Possessed, New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press.
Tambiah, Stanley Jeyaraja. 1979. “A Performative Approach to Ritual,” In Proceedings of the British Academy, 113–69.
---- Further readings soon.
Additional Reading Material:
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 20 %
Presentation 30 %
Participation in Tutorials 20 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 30 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
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