Literature in English Other than British
and American:
POST-COLONIAL DRAMA
Prof. Beth Hoffmann
Office: Robinson Hall A 405a
E-mail: bhoffma2@gmu.edu
Office Hours: Thurs 2-4 pm and by appt.
ENGH 367, Sec 1 [undergraduate]
ENGH 665, Sec 3 [graduate]
Tues 4.30-7.10 pm
Fine Arts Building B108
Course Description:
In this course, we will unpack the label “post-colonial drama” and its politics as a descriptor of a
continuously evolving and contested body of literature in English. We will focus specifically on
works that have been generated in Anglophone countries that were formerly part of the British
Empire, including Australia, Ireland, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, India, and Jamaica, among
others. As we read, we will pay close attention to the way that “post-colonial,” as a keyword,
indexes a wide variety of theoretical, historical, geographical, aesthetic, social, and economic
investments. Likewise, we will consider the way that “drama,” as a keyword, carries with it a
host of anxieties about the relationship between theatrical performance, everyday life, and
cultural efficacy—especially when drama has been used as a tool in the struggle for
independence. Together, these lines of inquiry will elucidate the challenges faced by writers and
theatrical practitioners hoping to re-define community and find a space of political resistance
within the colonial and neo-colonial legacies of the British Empire.
As part of the course, we will attend a live performance in the DC area to help us make sense of
drama as both a literary document and a live event that takes place under a specific set of
historical conditions. Written assignments will include a critical essay as well as exploratory
writing and research mini-assignments that will culminate in the presentation of a collaborative
performance project at the end of the semester generated from one of the texts that we read.
Required Texts:
Postcolonial Plays: An Anthology, ed. by Helen Gilbert (Routledge, 2001)
An Introduction to Postcolonial Theatre, by Brian Crow and Chris Banfield, (Cambridge UP,
1996)
Our Country’s Good, by Timberlake Wertenbaker (Dramatic Publishing Co., 1990)
Playboy of the Western World, by J.M. Synge (Dover Thrift Editions)
Playboy of the West Indies, by Mustapha Matura (Oberon Books, 2010)
Statements, Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona (Theatre Communications Group,
1990)
Translations: A Play, by Brian Friel (Faber & Faber, 1995)
Woman and Scarecrow, by Marina Carr (Dramatist’s Play Service, 2010)
*Recommended: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition (2009), published
by the Modern Language Association of America
*There will also be handouts provided in class and on our course website.
Page 1 of 5
ENGH 367/665 - FA 11
Prof. Hoffmann
Grading:
Participation Attendance, quizzes and/or brief daily assignments
Performance Project
Two Discussion Mini-essays, 500 words min; posted by noon on Saturday
before class
Two Responses to Discussion Essays 500 words min; posted by midnight on
Sunday before class
Live Theatre Event + Response Essay 750 words min, due at the first class
meeting after show
Final Research Project [665] 12-15 page (min.) paper
*OR*
Two 6-7 page papers [367], on contrasting topics, PLUS a Final Exam
10%
20%
10%
10%
10%
40%
665 ONLY:
Four “salon” meetings to discuss recommended readings in depth (dates
and times TBD based on group schedule)
Course Policies:
Attendance
Absences from class will inevitably affect your final grade in a very real way. 10% of your
overall marks will be devoted to your commitment to in-class participation, but further, paper
topics, quizzes, and exam questions will directly reference information and ideas available only
during class discussions. Attendance will be taken at the start of each class period in order to
track your participation. If you are late, it is your responsibility to make sure that the absence is
changed to a “late” in the attendance register. If you have an obligation that conflicts with our
class time, or if you are ill or there is an emergency, make sure to e-mail me BEFORE THE
CLASS THAT YOU WILL MISS to make sure that an absence is excused. Try to partner up
with another student in the class to exchange notes if you can’t avoid an absence. DO NOT email me to find out about what you missed.
University Honor Code
“To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all
members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic
and personal achievement, we, the student members of the University Community have set forth
this Honor Code. Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to
cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work.” Find the details at
http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/
Plagiarism
Plagiarism, broadly defined, is the act of passing off someone else’s ideas as your own. This
may involve (but is not limited to) handing in a paper written by another individual, failing to
cite an author whose ideas you quote directly, or paraphrasing another author’s ideas without
crediting that influence. It is your responsibility to know the definition of plagiarism and to
make sure that your writing conforms to the rules set down by the English Department and the
Composition Program at GMU. If you have any questions, make sure to contact me well in
Page 2 of 5
ENGH 367/665 - FA 11
Prof. Hoffmann
advance of a paper deadline so that we can settle any uncertainties. Find the details at
http://english.gmu.edu/faculty/plagiarism and
http://classweb.gmu.edu/WAC/EnglishGuide/Critical/plagiarism.html. Papers in this course
must use the MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style. Familiarize yourself with it
BEFORE you turn in your papers, because your grade will reflect your ability to cite sources
appropriately and create a properly formatted bibliography.
Late Work
To receive full marks, work must be turned in at the start of class on the day that it is due. Late
work will thereafter be docked 1/3 of a letter grade if turned in later the day the paper is due,
and an additional 1/3 of a letter grade for each day that it is overdue. For example, a paper
turned in after the start of class on the same day that the paper is due will go from an A to an A-;
a paper turned in the day after a paper is due will go from an A to a B+, etc. Work turned in
more than seven days late will not be graded and you will receive zero credit.
Disability Accommodation
Please let me know via e-mail or in office hours if you require any disability accommodations,
whether for cognitive (learning or psychological), sensory, mobility or other disabilities. In
addition to contacting me, you must get in touch with the GMU Office of Disability Services. In
order for us to make sure that your needs are met, please get this conversation going as early in
the semester as possible. It is my understanding that you will not receive retroactive
accommodations (that is, accommodations approved after an assignment is due or a test has
already been taken). Find the details at http://www.gmu.edu/student/drc/
Extra credit
You can acquire “extra credit” toward your participation and critical writing grades by attending
a live theatre event (suggestions available on the course website). In order to receive the extra
credit, you must write a 500-word response essay that analyzes how (at least) one or two scenes
from the play engaged with a prominent theme in our class discussions (e.g. the problem of
power, representation, belonging, authenticity, etc.)
Schedule:
*Each assigned text is followed by an abbreviation that indicates where you will find the
reading: PDF (available on the course website), PPA (Post-colonial Plays: An Anthology), or
IPCT (An Introduction to Post-Colonial Theatre). If there is no abbreviation, that indicates that
the text was required to be purchased as an independent volume.
**For all plays assigned in Post-colonial Plays: An Anthology, you must also read the editor’s
introduction to that play.
Schedule:
Week 1 (Aug 30) – Definitions and Histories: Empire and the Postcolonial Condition
In-class lecture (no readings)
**Recommended reading: Orientalism, by Edward Said, esp. section 1, “The Scope of
Page 3 of 5
ENGH 367/665 - FA 11
Prof. Hoffmann
Orientalism” ; The Empire Writes Back, ed. by Ashcroft et al; The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader, ed. by Ashcroft et al
PART ONE: SUBJECTIVITIES
Week 2 (Sept 6) – Empire and “Englishness”
The Nabob, by Samuel Foote (PDF)
Our Country’s Good, by Timberlake Wertenbaker
“Can the Subaltern Speak?”, Gayatri Spivak (PDF)
Week 3 (Sept 13) – Place and Ethnicity
Inside the Island, by Louis Nowra (PPA)
Translations, by Brian Friel
**Recommended reading: “A Prophetic Vision of the Past,” by Bill Ashcroft (PDF);
“New Ethnicities,” by Stuart Hall (PDF)
Week 4 (Sept 20) – Race and Subject Formation
“Derek Walcott and a Caribbean theatre of revelation,” by Crow and Banfield (IPCT)
Pantomime, by Derek Walcott (PPA)
**Recommended reading: Black Skin, White Masks, by Frantz Fanon
Week 5 (Sept 27) – Intersections of Gender and Nation
Anowa, by Ama Ata Aidoo (PPA)
Woman and Scarecrow, by Marina Carr
**Recommended reading: “Woman Skin Deep: Feminism and the Postcolonial
Condition,” by Sara Suleri (PDF); “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and
Colonial Discourses,” by Chandra Mohanty (PDF)
Week 6 (Oct 4) – Hybridity
“Girish Karnad and an Indian theatre of roots,” by Crow and Banfield (IPCT)
Hayavadana, by Girish Karnad (PPA)
**Recommended reading: The Location of Culture, by Homi Bhabha
Week 7 (Oct 11)– NO CLASS
Columbus Day recess (Monday classes meet on Tuesday)
PART II: THEATRE METHODOLOGIES
Week 8 (Oct 18) – Canonical Counter-discourse
“Post-colonial Literatures and Counter-discourse,” by Helen Tiffin (PDF)
The Playboy of the Western World, by J.M. Synge
The Playboy of the West Indies, by Mustapha Matura
**
*First Paper Due [367]
*Research Proposal Due [665]
Page 4 of 5
ENGH 367/665 - FA 11
Prof. Hoffmann
Week 9 (Oct 25) – Historical Excavations
“Truth, Reconciliation, and the Ends of Political Performance,” by Loren Kruger (PDF)
Ubu and the Truth Commission, by Jane Taylor with William Kentridge and the
Handspring Puppet Company (PPA)
Week 10 (Nov 1) – Ritual and Mythology
“The World as Can Opener,” from The Shifting Point, by Peter Brook (PDF)
“Wole Soyinka and the Nigerian Theatre of Ritual Vision,” by Crow and Banfield (IPCT)
The Strong Breed, by Wole Soyinka (PPA)
Week 11 (Nov 8) – Engaging the Avant-Garde Tradition
“Athol Fugard and the South African workshop play,” by Crow and Banfield (IPCT)
The Island, by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona
**Recommended reading: “Convicted Readings,” by W.B. Worthen (PDF)
Week 12 (Nov 15) – Economies of Production and Consumption
“The Political History of Theatre and Theory: Brecht and His Contemporaries,” by Loren
Kruger (PDF)
The Hungry Earth, by Maishe Maponya (PPA)
**Recommended reading: Excerpts from Brecht on Theatre (PDF)
Week 13 (Nov 22 - Thanksgiving week) – Postmodern Revisions
The Mudrooroo/Müller Project, by Gerhard Fischer et al.
Week 14 (Nov 29) – Globalization and Interculturalism
Richard Schechner/Rustom Bharucha exchange from Asian Theatre Journal (ER)
Harvest, by Manjula Padmanabhan (PPA)
**Recommended reading: Empire, by Hardt and Negri
*Second Paper Due [367]
**SAVE THE DATE! Theatre Event: Attend The Golden Dragon, by Roland Schimmelpfennig,
at the Studio Theatre in Washington D.C. Details forthcoming.**
Week 15 (Dec 6) – Performance Laboratory
Presentation of Final Performance Projects
*Performance Responses Due (367 & 665]
Sat Dec 10: Last day of classes
Mon Dec 12: Reading day
Tues Dec 13- Tues Dec 20: Exam period
**Final Research Paper [665]: Due by 7.15 pm on Tuesday, Dec 13**
**Final Exam [367]: Tuesday, Dec 13 4.30 pm – 7.15 pm**
Page 5 of 5
ENGH 367/665 - FA 11
Prof. Hoffmann