Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University N.B.: Missing page 19. Thesis misnumbered.

P. Bussan's thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University, 1958.

This thesis looks into the relationship between dance and politics. It argues that dance is both a method of intervening in other symbolic languages and a system of inscription that is intertwined in that moment of intervention. Dance as a political language has a subversive potential; it can challenge verbal political statements. In the thesis I work with and against Jacques Rancière’s interpretation of politics as re-distribution of the sensible and with Aletta Norval’s reading of Rancière’s conception of democracy as egalitarian inscription which I expand and read as egalitarian embodied inscription. I show that Rancière’s focus on politics as rupture disables the recognition inscription as continuity. I show that dance enables a reading of politics as both rupture and continuity, an intervention that leaves traces that endure after it ends. Through a genealogy of the concept of the Dionysian I show that philosophers and dance practitioners alike have read dance as both subversive and affirmative, an intervention and a system of inscription that acts independently of spoken discourse. I show that Isadora Duncan created the first political moment in modern dance as a re-distribution of the sensible; at the same time although she created egalitarian embodied inscription she did not leave a codified system of movement, and did not contradict her politics in spoken language. I show that Martha Graham created the second moment of re-distribution of the sensible in which she created a codified movement language that subverted politics in spoken words. Finally, I revisit Rancière’s work and bind his discussion of human rights with the problematic of the tension between rupture and continuity. I re-read both these arguments with my interpretation of dance as political and argue that it yields a reading of dance as enabling the creation of human rights claims. Dance is both subversive and affirmative.

There is consensus in academic circles that the directors Peter Brook and Ariane Mnouchkine have similar approaches to theatre practice and occupy the same position in the landscape of theatre production in France. Yet there have not been any in-depth studies that unpack the similarities and differences between the two practitioners. Considering their stature on the national French and international stages, such a gap of scholarship needed to be filled. By examining the specificities of their practices via the analysis of their two most emblematic productions, the Mahabharata and Les Atrides, this thesis hopes to provide an appraisal of their practices at a time when they are moving away from theatre. More specifically, this thesis looks at how the two directors transferred ancient archetypal and mythological narratives to the contemporary French stage. It considers how they used successful, parallel methodologies to adapt and render present an Ancient Sanskrit epic on the one hand (Brook), and Ancient Greek drama on the other (Mnouchkine). I uncover in their work the matrix for adaptation, located in the discourse of storytelling and in the post-Brechtian concept of estrangement, that I label ‘décalage’. Moreover, the thesis hopes to provide an appraisal of the supremacy of directors on the French stage in the nineteen eighties and advocates for the cultural necessity of theatre as an art form, at a time of crisis in France.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boston University. Graduate thesis production [book presented] as partial fulfillment for the Master of Fine Arts degree requirements, Boston University, School of Fine and Applied Arts, 1961.

This thesis considers crucial questions relating to the theatrical works of Aimé Césaire and Derek Walcott and argues that the authors' quest for identity is framed by a dialectic which Édouard Glissant has termed "philosophy of Relation". I show that it is this "philosophy of Relation" which helps the authors formulate a theatrical vision that transcends the chaotic aspects of Antillean history. By examining the dialectical thrust of Walcott's and Césaire's theatre, the study seeks to develop an overarching theory of modern West Indian drama that accounts for its specific Antillean nature.

The thesis presents a qualitative study which examines teachers’ and pupils’ experiences of drama tasks in secondary school subject lessons other than Drama, where the tasks are incorporated in pursuit of curriculum-defined teaching and learning goals. I take a cultural-historical perspective in my analysis, interrogating the possibilities for meaningful appropriations of drama as a pedagogical toolkit by examining social interaction and communication within the cultural context of the classroom and how these practices may have developed over time. Set in four secondary school classrooms in the UK, the study focused on the experiences of teachers, (who are not trained drama specialists), and their pupils as they undertook drama tasks as part of curriculum lessons. I carried out a series of lesson observations, supplemented by interviews with participants. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory (Cole 1996, Engeström 1987, Engeström 1999) as a heuristic tool, I created an analytical framework that explored the tensions between communicative tools, rules of the classroom space, and teacher-pupil and peer relations. This theoretical stance appreciates both the dynamic nature of classrooms and the possibilities for pedagogies of choice. The emphasis on tool-mediated action offers a fresh perspective in that it creates a structured and detailed framework for exploring the subtle and complex process of empathetic thought. This study reveals some of the ways in which tensions occur and existing and historically-embedded cultural practices are brought to the surface, and reinforced or challenged. I provide extracts from the data to illustrate a concern for an assessment-driven acquisition of curriculum content is a particular constraint, along with varying opportunities for both teacher and pupils to construct a framework for spontaneous in-role action within the dramatic form. The appropriation of communicative tools, although influential in achieving goals, does not always preclude emotional investment in the tasks. Although there are shifts from teacher authority to increased pupil decision-making, the way in which the teacher and pupils operate in these drama tasks reveals as much about the established and reinforced learning and social practices of the classroom, as the way these practices are changed. The research considers how drama as a pedagogical toolkit has developed historically, and it reveals implications for future study and practice relating to the understanding of drama-as-toolkit within formal educational settings.

This study enquires into the construction of a cultural fantasy, the favorite (or royal mistress), in the reign of Louis XIV (1661-1715), and aims to explore the kinds of narrative, the 'scénario pour l’imaginaire', articulated around this figure. A process of crystallization in respect of the favorite, both as word and as literary figure, develops across the late seventeenth century. This process is on the one hand fuelled by the increasing prominence of female favouritism as a political practice during the period, and on the other facilitated by the emergence of new privileged media such as the novel and the 'nouvelle historique'. The favorite, as a new incarnation of the ‘femme forte’, becomes a trope by which anxieties can be expressed: about female power, but also about the monarchy in general. This thesis advances by way of close readings and studies of vast corpora of texts; it alternates – both within and between chapters – between analysis and synthesis. Following the introduction, the first chapter introduces a set of mental landmarks, both semantic and axiological, and explores the dictionaries, treatises and courtly manuals of the time in search of the favorite. The second chapter focuses on the fiction of the 1660s and 1670s, and questions the way in which these texts established elements of definition and recurrent issues related to the staging of the favorite in this period. The third chapter considers the representation of Louis XIV's mistresses, principally through a study of the ballets, poems, letters, memoirs, satires and pamphlets concerned with the Sun King's loves. Its object is to show how the favorite is inserted into the royal mythology. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the first text explicitly and exclusively devoted to the favorite: the Histoire des Favorites (1697) by Anne de La Roche-Guilhen. This chapter attempts to bring to light the tensions underlying the text, while interrogating the determining role of this collection in the process of crystallization explored throughout the thesis. The fifth chapter sketches out the afterlife of the favorite under Louis XV and Louis XVI, and describes the principal evolutions which ensured her survival in the collective imagination.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the comic art of Molière through the lens of empathy and narcissism, and reciprocally, to show that Molière nourishes Western thought about these phenomena, which can be viewed as opposite ends of a continuum. Every personality has some of each, but the unbalanced egoist has excessive self-love and cannot put himself in another's place. The narcissist is omnipresent in Molière's theatre, but has been heretofore unidentified as such in criticism. This work attempts to fill this gap, and accordingly, my corpus encompasses his 33 extant plays. Furthermore, these psychological concepts are inherently theatrical, especially with respect to whether or not spectators recognize themselves in characters on stage. There is a dialectic relation between reconnaissance and empathy or antipathy, and, therefore, laughter. Hence, empathy and narcissism provide a way of looking at characters on stage and at the interaction between the dramatic action and the audience. To explore the former, I investigate endogenous words Molière uses to convey empathy and narcissism; how he portrays empathizers and narcissists visually through their adherence to and breaking of social codes; and how cognition influences their ability to change. For the latter, I demonstrate how early modern querelles surrounding Molière's plays involve these notions; and how his metatheatrical discourses reveal that Molière transports his spectators 'hors de soi': a state that mirrors romantic love and provides pleasure. Taken in this framework, I argue that Molière's work can be seen as anti-narcissistic; if his spectators knew themselves in the mirror he held up, laughing was a means of precluding blind empathy. Thus, employing tools from modern psychology and neuroscience and notions from the seventeenth century, this thesis evaluates how Molière's characters provide us, today, with a means for better understanding the place of narcissism in our occidental world.

Nationally there is a high pass rate in Dramatic Arts (DA), and this subject offers many benefits for the development of young people, especially in terms of equipping them with the twenty-first century skills required for an entrepreneurial market (Olaniyan, 2015). However, few learners choose to continue with this subject beyond Grade 9. Inadequate enrolments result in fewer teaching posts being available, which also affects the entertainment industry. Parents are identified as primary sources of social support in influencing their children’s decisions and the development of their interests, career options and future goals (Kenny & Medvide, 2013). This study aims to sample parental perceptions about choosing DA as an academic subject as provided by parents, teachers of DA and Life Orientation (LO) teachers. This study establishes to what degree parents understand the value of drama education, and how their perceptions of the DA may influence their children’s school-exiting subject choices. The study comprises aspects of one theory, namely, parent role development theory (PDT). A mixed-methods study was designed within an interpretive paradigm. A sample of 36 parents who had children in high school in South Africa in 2019 completed an online mixed-method questionnaire that consisted of three parts, each dealing with parental perceptions and experiences in the field of education. The responses were coded and analysed through a convergent parallel design, and the findings were triangulated for deeper understanding, validity and transferability. The findings of this study pointed out that parental perceptions are shaped by prejudice, social influence, and school communication, among others. Furthermore, parents showed genuine interest and support for their children’s career plans and the skills that DA promote. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted