Universität Wien
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170601 SE MA 1.1. "Forms of Staging and Aesthetic Perception" (2023W)

Melodrama

7.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 17 - Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 30 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 10.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 17.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 24.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 31.10. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 07.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 14.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 21.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 28.11. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 05.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 12.12. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 09.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 16.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 23.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde
  • Tuesday 30.01. 09:45 - 11:15 Seminarraum 4 2H558 UZA II Rotunde

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Melodramas are popular cultural forms of staging that aim to amaze and emotionalize their audiences by means of exaggerated aesthetic and ethical contrasts. On the one hand, the term is associated with a clearly defined practices, such as that founded by René Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt in Paris during the first half of the 19th century or later that of Dion Boucicault in the English-speaking world; on the other hand, melodrama as an aesthetic principle is related to a variety of popular theater, film, and media phenomena.
The seminar deals with melodrama in a narrower as well as in a broader sense. In the first stage of the seminar, we will work together on three typical melodramas (two from the field of theater, one from the field of film) and read key contributions to their understanding from the rich research literature. The second stage will focus on the phenomena chosen by students, which will be interpreted in terms of their melodramatic features.
The goal of the seminar is an examination of melodrama as an aesthetic practice, both practicing dramaturgical-analytical skills and expanding historical knowledge.

Assessment and permitted materials

The seminar grade consists of a moderation (30%) and a presentation (70%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Requirements for the positive completion of the seminar are the following
- Presence in the organization and information session on 10.10.23,
- regular preparation, presence and active participation in the seminar units,
- the moderation of a thematic discussion as well as a presentation in the second phase, the latter has to be revised and handed in after the presentation.

Examination topics

Reading list

- Brandlmeier, Thomas. Douglas Sirk und das ironisierte Melodram. München: edition text+kritik im Richard Boorberg Verlag, 2022.
- Bratton, Jacky; Cook, Jim Cook; Gledhill, Christine (Eds.). Melodrama. Stage, Picture, Screen. London: British Film Institute, 1994.
- Brooks, Peter. The Melodramatic Imagination. Balzac, Henry James and the Mode of Excess. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985. [EA 1976]
- Gledhill, Christine; Williams, Linda (Eds.). Melodrama Unbound: Across History, Media, and National Cultures. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.
- Hays, Michael; Nikolopoulou, Anastasia (Eds.). Melodrama. The Cultural Emergence of a Genre. New York: St. Martin‘s Press, 1996.
- Landy, Marcia (Ed.). Imitations of Life. A Reader on Film & Television Melodrama. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1991.
- Menke, Bettine; Schäfer, Armin; Eschkötter, Daniel (Hg.). Das Melodram – ein Medienbastard. Berlin: Theater der Zeit, 2013.
- Redmond, James (Ed.). Melodrama. Cambridge: University Press, 1992.
- Williams, Carolyn (Ed.) The Cambridge Companion to English Melodrama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 09.10.2023 09:07