PERFORMING IDENTITIES
by
Dr. Meiling Cheng
THTR 405m/63003R/4 Units/2012
Office: MCC, 2nd Fl.
Tel. (213) 740-1496
M/W 3:30-4:50pm: THH 119
E: meilingc@usc.edu
Office Hrs: Fri. 10-noon.
By Appointment Only.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course explores the live performance medium as a creative means of social redress and
personal expression. It engages with the medium's potentials to reflect, critique, construct, and enact
a performing artist's emergent identities. Course materials range from solo shows in the early
twentieth century, contemporary dramatic texts for ensemble work, to the recent genre of selfperformance, in addition to numerous theoretical essays and videotaped performance documents.
Equal emphasis will be placed on the aesthetic dimension and the cultural and historical
backgrounds of selected performance texts. In our globalized era, the course encourages the
students to recognize and appreciate both the challenge and pleasure of experiencing diversity in
interpersonal encounters.
PURPOSE OF THE COURSE
"Performing Identities" fulfills the diversity requirement for the undergraduate general education.
Examining the interrelation between live performance and identity expressions, the course
analyzes an important facet of sociocultural existence in a multiethnic nation such as the United
States. The planned reading and writing assignments, interactive class discussions, and solo or
ensemble performance presentations address all aspects of perceived human differences,
including those based on age, race, ethnicity, class, gender, language, religion, education, politics,
sexual orientation, physical ability, nationality, and/or immigration status.
The civil rights movement in the 1960s, the feminist movement in the 1970s, and the
multicultural awareness in the 1980s have inspired many contemporary artists to turn to live
performance as both a dramatic mode of public address and a readily accessible civic forum. They
use live performance to investigate their subjectivities, to voice their ethical concerns, to confront
sociocultural prejudices, and to celebrate diversity. At a moment when the electronic media and
social networking websites have remodeled the concepts of individual identities and cultural
communities, this course takes a proactive approach to tackle the interdependence between art
and social progress, between creative expression and individual wellbeing.
SYLLABUS
M 8/27
Introduction. Identity; Diversity; Performance.
View: YouTube: Janis Ian, At Seventeen (Live 1976)—5:00
Lady Gaga, Bad Romance (Lyrics on screen, Official Music Video HD)--5:07.
Today Now! By The Onion, Hot New Relationship Book Warns Women: "Wake
Up! He's a Shapeshifter" [2:51]
W 8/29
What Is Identity in an Online World?
Read: "Prologue," in N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman (1999),
xi-xiv.*
Ref: Pramod K. Nayar, "Posthumanism, Informatics, and the Body," in Virtual
Worlds, 217-223.
M 9/3
Labor Day Holiday. No Class.
W 9/5
Laughter as Social Therapy: Satirical Humorists. Take One.
Read: Beatrice Herford; Jackie "Moms" Mabley; Ruth Draper in Extreme
Exposure.
View: YouTube: Good Old Days--Moms Mabley [4:23]
MOMS MABLEY – IT'S YOUR THING. LIVE TV PERFORMANCE 1970 [1:24]
Moms Mabley [5:21]
Dramatist Ruth Draper Vintage Movie 1937 [0:37]
M 9/10
Laughter as Social Therapy: Satirical Humorists. Take Two.
Read: Brother Theodore; Lenny Bruce in Extreme Exposure.
View: YouTube: Brother Theodore – Monologue 1 [1:52]
Brother Theodore - Food Sermon [9:42].
Lenny Bruce on Stage Just Before He Died [5:15].
Lenny--Lenny Bruce hard words [Dustin Hoffman portraying Bruce] [1:56].
W 9/12
Laughter as Social Therapy: Satirical Humorists. Take Three.
Read: Reno, in Extreme Exposure.
View: Reno-Rebel without a Pause [LVYDVD 4280]
M 9/17
SCP #1 (Solo or Collaborative Presentation): Satirical Humorists.
W 9/19
Theatrical Mimics: Embodying Others as Self-Expansion. Take One.
Read: Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner in Extreme Exposure.
View: Lily Tomlin-The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.
[LVYVID1837]
YouTube: One RingyDingy [3:00]
Joan Rivers Interview Lily Tomlin as Ernestine YouTube [9:26].
M 9/24
Embodying Others as Self-Expansion. Take Two.
Read: Whoopi Goldberg in Extreme Exposure.
View: Whoopi Goldberg. [LVYVID782]
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--2
YouTube: Whoopie Goldberg -"Back to Braodway" Stand Up [9:56].
Whoopie Goldberg's opening monologue at the 71st Academy Awards [2:55]
W 9/26
Embodying Others as Self-Expansion. Take Three.
This session will be led by our Assistant Instructor, Kirsa Rein. The professor has
been invited to participate in a conversation performance as part of Indelibles
(2012) by Chinese artist Liu Ding in the 2012 Taipei Biennial.
Read: Eric Bogosian in Extreme Exposure.
View: Harmonius, performed by Eric Bogosian [4:00].
Eric Bogosian "Medicine" (1994) [4:17].
Molecules [6:01].
M 10/1
Enacting Hip Hop Identities. Generation Rap. Danny Hoch; Sarah Jones.
Read: Danny Hoch in Extreme Exposure.
Ref.: Danny Hoch, "Towards A Hip-Hop Aesthetics: A Manifesto for the Hip-Hop
Arts Movement," self-download from http://www.dannyhoch.com/works.html
View: Some People [LVYVID 2058]
YouTube: Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop – Trailer –TWN – YouTube [2:17]
Def Poetry: Sarah Jones, 'Your Revolution' (Official Video) [3:16].
W 10/3
SCP #2: Theatrical Mimics; Spoken Word Theatre.
DUE: The First Set of Comments (5 Entries: Select from Hayle to Hoch/Jones)
M 10/8
Midterm Exam.
W 10/10
Feminist Politics: "The Personal Is the Political."
Read: Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?"*
Josephine Withers, "Feminist Performance Art: Performing, Discovering,
Transforming Ourselves," in The Power of Feminist Art, 158-73.*
Alice Walker, "Womanist," in In Search of Our Mother's Gardens (1983), xi-xii.*
View: Sphinxes without Secrets: Women Performance Artists Speak Out (1991)
[AFADVD 820]
PPt slides: Feminist Art and Performances.
M 10/15
Surveying the Master's Tools.
Read: Audre Lorde, "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,"
in Sister Outsider (1984), 114-123.*
Ellen Pence, "Racism--A White Issue," in All the Woman Are White, All the Blacks
Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave (1982), 45-47.*
Adrian Piper, "Ideology, Confrontation and Political Self-Awareness," in The
Citizen Artist (1998), 87-92.*
Ref: Amber E. Kinser, "Negotiating Spaces for/through Third-Wave Feminism,"
NWSA Journal 16.3 (Autumn 2004): 124-53.*
W 10/17
The Matrix of Identities.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--3
Read: Cherríe Moraga, "La Güera" (27-34); and
Gloria Anzaldúa, "La Prieta" (198-209), in Moraga and Anzaldúa, eds., This
Bridge Called My Back (1983).*
Marga Gomez in Extreme Exposure.
View: Marga Gomez, Gay Fruit Flies [1:58]
Marga Gomez: Fidel Castro and Yoga [4:24]
Marga Gomez: My Dad's Army Story [2:38]
M 10/22
Review of the Matrix of Identities.
SCP #3: Feminist/Womanist Identities; Dissecting Prejudices.
W 10/24
Breaking the Silence.
Read: Wakako Yamauchi, 12-1-A (1992), in The Politics of Life (1993), 45-100.*
M 10/29
Voicing Traumas.
Read: Dawn Akemi Saito in Extreme Exposure.
Haerry Kim, Face (2009).*
View: PPt slides: Wang Chuyu, Samsara (2006)
W 10/31
Dispelling Internalized Demons.
Read: Kim, Face (cont.)
Guest Lecture: Natsuko Ohama (if available).
M 11/5
Dispelling Internalized Demons.
Read: Dael Orlandersmith, Yellowman (2002).
W 11/7
SCP #4: Reconstructing Identities Out of Traumatic Memories.
M 11/12
Enacting Multiple Selves: Sarah Jones.
Read: Meiling Cheng, "Self Performance."*
"Sarah Jones: Work," http://sarahjonesonline.com/work/
"Sarah Meets with Survivors of Sexual Exploitation during WWII (so-called
"Comfort Women") and other Feminist Activists in South Korea,"
http://sarahjonesonline.com/news/
View: YouTube: Sarah Jones: One Woman, Eight Hilarious Characters [21:00]
Sarah Jones as Rashid [5:57]
Sarah Jones as Bella, WMC Celebrates Gloria Steinem [3:11]
W 11/14
Immigrant Subjects and Border Identities.
Read: Shishir Kurup, "In Between Space," in Let's Get It On: The Politics of Black
Performance (1995).*
Guest Lecture: Shishir Kurup (if available).
View: Assimilation (1991)
Ref: Meiling Cheng, "A Hetero-locus in Process," in In Other Los Angeleses:
Multicentric Performance Art (2002), 174-233.*
M 11/19
Performing Genders, Sexualities: Queers, Mutables, and Vanguards.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--4
Read: Luis Alfaro in Extreme Exposure.
Guest Lecture: Luis Alfaro (if available).
W 11/21
Thanksgiving holidays (21-25 Nov.)
M 11/26
Performing Genders, Sexualities: Queer Fantasia and Lesbian Noir.
Read: Tim Miller in Extreme Exposure.
Holly Hughes, Dress Suit to Hire (1988), in C. Martin, ed., A Sourcebook of
Feminist Theatre and Performance (1996), 267-292.*
View: My Queer Body [4:34].
Ref. Rebecca Schneider, "Holly Hughes: Polymorphous Perversity and the Lesbian
Scientist (An Interview)," in A Sourcebook of Feminist Theatre and Performance
(1996), 239-53*
W 11/28
Queer Fantasia and Lesbian Noir (Cont.)
Read: Hughes, Dress Suit to Hire.
Holden, Stephen. "Theater: 'Dress Suit'," The New York Times (3 Feb. 1988).*
M 12/3
Liberation for Transgender, Transsexual, and Intersexed Bodies.
Read: Ken Cooper, "Practice with Transgendered Youth and Their Families,"
Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services 11.3 (2000): 111-29. [pdf]
Ethan Zimmerman, "Transie," in J. Nestle, et. al., eds., Gender Queer (2002), 190193.*
W 12/5
SCP #5: The Politics of Gender + Race + Class + Ethnicity + Sexuality +
GeoPolitical + Etc. Differences.
DUE: The Second Set of Reading Notes. (5 Entries: Select from Truth to
Zimmerman)
M 12/10
DUE: The Final Project.
M 12/17
Final Examination (2-4PM)
TEXTS
I. Bibliography of Required Texts (in the order of appearance in our class)
Bonney, Jo, ed. Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the Twentieth
Century (Theatre Communications Group, 2000).
Hayles, N. Katerine. "Prologue." In How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics,
Literature, and Informatics (The University of Chicago Press, 1999), xi-xiv.
Truth, Sojourner, "Ain't I a Woman?" Online.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--5
Withers, Josephine. "Feminist Performance Art: Performing, Discovering, Transforming
Ourselves." In Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard, eds. The Power of Feminist Art
(Harry Abrams, 1996), 158-73.*
Walker, Alice. "Womanist." In In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose. Harcourt
Brace & Company, 1983 [1967], xi-xii.
Lorde, Audre. "Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference" (1980). In Sister
Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde. The Crossing Press, 1998 [1984], 114123.
Pence, Ellen. "Racism--A White Issue." In But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies.
Ed., Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith. The Feminist Press, 1982, 4547.
Piper, Adrian. "Ideology, Confrontation and Political Self-Awareness." In Linda Frye Burnham
and Steven Durland, eds. The Citizen Artist: An Anthology from High Performance
Magazine 1978-1998. Critical Press, 1998, 87-92.
Cherríe Moraga. "La Güera." In This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
(Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983 [1981]), 27-34.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. "La Prieta." In This Bridge Called My Back, 198-209.
Yamauchi, Wakako. 12-1-A. In Velina Hasu Houston, ed. The Politics of Life: Four Plays by
Asian American Women (Temple University Press, 1993), 45-100.
Kim, Haerry. Face (2009) -- An unpublished script given by the artist. No redistribution outside
of our class.
Orlandersmith, Dael. Yellowman (Vintage Books, 2002).
Jones, Sarah. Sarahjonesonline.com/ [The Artist's Website.]
Cheng, Meiling. "Self performance." Excerpt from "Highways, L.A.: Multiple Communities in a
Heterolocus." Theatre Journal 53 (Oct., 2001): 429-454.
Kurup, Shishir, "In Between Space." In Ugwu, Catherine, ed. Let's Get It On: The Politics of
Black Performance (Bay Press, 1995), 210-221.
Hughes, Holly. Dress Suit to Hire. In Carol Martin, ed. A Sourcebook of Feminist Theatre and
Performance (Routledge, 1996), 267-292.
Holden, Stephen. "Theater: 'Dress Suit'," The New York Times (3 Feb. 1988).*
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--6
Ken Cooper, "Practice with Transgendered Youth and Their Families," Journal of Gay and
Lesbian Social Services 11.3 (2000): 111-29.
Zimmerman, Ethan. "Transie." In Gender Queer: Voices from Beyond the Sexual Binary. Ed.,
Joan Nestle, Clare Howell, and Riki Wilchins. Alyson Books, 2002, 190-193.
II. Reference Texts (Not required, but helpful with your assignments.)
Nayar, Pramod K. "Posthumanism, Informatics, and the Body." In Virtual Worlds: Culture and
Politics in the Age of Cybertechnology (Sage, 2004), 217-223.
Danny Hoch, "Towards A Hip-Hop Aesthetics: A Manifesto for the Hip-Hop Arts Movement,"
self-download from http://www.dannyhoch.com/works.html
Kinser, Amber E. "Negotiating Spaces for/through Third-Wave Feminism." NWSA Journal 16.3
(Autumn 2004): 124-53.
Cheng, Meiling. "A Hetero-locus in Process." In In Other Los Angeleses: Multicentric
Performance Art (University of California Press, 2002), 174-233.
Schneider, Rebecca. "Holly Hughes: Polymorphous Perversity and the Lesbian Scientist (An
Interview)." In C. Martin, ed. A Sourcebook of Feminist Theatre and Performance
(Routledge, 1996), 239-253.
III. Ordered Texts:
The following texts have been ordered through the USC Bookstore. They are also available via the
USC library:
1.
Bonney, Jo, ed. Extreme Exposure: An Anthology of Solo Performance Texts from the
Twentieth Century. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 2000. [1-55936-155-7]
2.
Orlandersmith, Dael. Yellowman. New York: Vintage Books, 2002. [1-4000-3206-7]
IV. Reserved Texts:
All books are available via USC library, either on reserve at Leavey or accessible through the Ares
electronic reserve system. Please bring your laptop or your copies of these texts to class, so we may
discuss them together.
V. Intra-Class Shared Texts:
The texts marked with * currently available in the USC library collection will be posted on
Blackboard for intra-class sharing, not for public circulation.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--7
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Explanations of Grading System and Written Assignments
The evaluation of your course performance will include your attendance, your eagerness to be
involved in the class activities, and the quality of your efforts and written works. You will fail the
class if you only come for the mid-term and final exams without fulfilling all other requirements.
There will be numerous written assignments, one presentation/performance assignment, and two
scheduled examinations. You will be graded for the level of your understanding, for the ingenuity
of your plan, for the coherence of your organization, and for the soundness of your argument. I
assess your ability to support the analysis and interpretation with specific examples from written
and performed texts, and your skills in synthesizing various ideas from lecture, research, and
discussion. Originality as well as diligence will be rewarded.
Note:
(1) The written assignments should be typed and double-spaced. The margins of your papers
should be kept at 1 inch; the size of your letters should not exceed 12-point font.
(2) According to the School of Theatre policy, no late paper will be accepted, unless permission is
granted prior to the due date.
(3) Close Reading: Your are strongly urged to read the text required for each class before the
lecture, so that you may contribute sensibly to class discussions. Please bring your copy of the
relevant text to each class. Be prepared that the Professor may call on you to read selected scenes
and passages in class. Your willingness to serve as a volunteer reader will count favorably toward
your Participation grade.
I. Participation: 15%
The participation grade is not guaranteed by mere attendance. It's evaluated in two parts.
• The first part is a reward/discipline section for class behavior and attendance records. (5%)
You will earn up to 5% points for this section if you behave as a responsible citizen of the class. If
you disrupt the class order, you will lose 10 points with every written warning from the Professor.
In addition, unexplained absence from the class will adversely affect your participation grade.
Usually you lose 6 points with an unexcused absence, and 3 points with an excused absence.
• The second part of the participation grade is decided by your intellectual engagement. (10%)
You may earn up to 10% by your active participation in class discussion and in-class projects.
Your efforts to engage in the on-going process of learning and thinking in class will be valued as
much as the quality of your participation. Courage, discipline, determination, thoughtfulness, and
the adventurous spirit will speak well for you in this class.
II. Ongoing Commentaries: 30%
Due: October 3 (15%); December 3, 2012 (15%).
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--8
For each class, you are required to bring in one discussion topic in response to the readings. From
among these discussion topics, you will pick ten topics, develop them as typewritten responses, and
turn them in as two sets of commentaries, with five entries for each set. When there is a selection of
reading assignments, you may choose to focus on one particular text for your entry or summarize your
responses to all the texts required for that class.
These commentaries may be composed of a series of provocative questions compiled into paragraphs,
a series of ideas, analyses, or drawings and images. Each entry should be around one-page long. The
most important criterion is that the commentary is perceptive and substantial and that it may provoke
deeper questioning of the issues under investigation.
III. Solo or Ensemble Presentation: 20%
Due: The scheduled date.
You are required to do either a solo project or a collaborative project for the semester. Providing
that we have enough time, you are allowed to do more than one presentation to increase your
participation grade.
There will be five solo presentation/ensemble performance slots for the whole semester, roughly
corresponding to the topics we are exploring. You should sign up in advance which slot and what
kind of project (solo or collaborative) that you are going to do. If you want to change your plan,
you must do so at least a week in advance. Consult the Professor for the signing sheet.
Both types of presentations are regarded as performances. An individual presentation should last
about five to seven minutes. An ensemble or collaborative performance should last about ten to
fifteen minutes. As a rule, an ensemble should include no more than three members.
These projects can be either academic or creative, or both. It's your choice to design the format
and direction of your presentation. You can perform as a commentator, a theatre student, or a
dramatic character, etc., in your solo or ensemble work. Remember: a project's duration has little
to do with its quality—longer doesn't make it better!
You will receive an individual grade for your solo project. Your will receive a group grade for the
ensemble project—the same grade for each member of the ensemble.
IV. Final Project: 15% (7-10 pages)
Due: December 10, 2012.
This assignment aims to train your research ability. Thus, you have to draw at least two outside
critical or journalistic sources, in addition to the references made from the original text. You lose
"5 points" for every missing source. A minimum of 8 pages is required for the paper. You lose "5
points" for each page less than the minimum requirement.
The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is recommended for the editorial format. Be
sure to document your sources properly.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--9
Option 1--Critical Paper:
The critical paper will analyze in depth one of the plays/performance texts that we study
during the semester. You may choose to do more than one play/performance texts. Choose a
subject that interests you the most, focus on a particular thesis, and develop your own
interpretation based on a close reading of the play and an examination of other critical
sources. You have to carefully document your sources and present a synthesis of your
discoveries. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate your analytical insight, your skill at
formulating an argument, and your ability to incorporate examples from the play with critical
research.
Option 2--Dramaturgical Newsletter:
The dramaturgical newsletter will deal with one of the plays/performance texts that we cover
during the semester. It will introduce the artist/playwright's life and works, offer a detailed
analysis of the particular play that you recommend for a new production, explain the reasons
for your recommendation, survey at least two past productions, and describe your own
particular version of production. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform your reader about
the artist/playwright and the performance/play, to clarify your individual approach to the
artwork, and to persuade your reader that the production is worth seeing.
V. Mid-term Exam (10%) and Final Exam (10%)
You will take a mid-term and a final examination (open-book, open-channel exams). The final
examination must be taken at its scheduled time. According to the USC policy, the final
examination cannot be given at any other time unless a student is suffering from illness or there is
a death in the family or some other critical emergency. These excuses must be formally
documented.
Grading Scale:
All assignments and examinations will be graded on a percentage (100 points) scale system. The
grades will then be calculated into a final point total, which will be converted into a final letter
grade.
A+: 100-97; A: 96-94;
C+: 79-77;
C: 76-74;
F: Below 60.
A-: 93-90;
C-: 73-70;
B+: 89-87;
D+: 69-67;
B: 86-84;
D: 66-64;
School of Theatre Grading Criteria
Letter grades and marks are defined as follows:
A
B
C
DF
work of excellent quality
work of good quality
work of fair quality for undergraduate credit
work of minimum passing quality for undergraduate credit
failure
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--10
B-: 83-80;
D-: 63-60;
Procedures and Agreement:
I. How to schedule an individual conference.
If you want to have an appointment with me, talk to me after class, or email me at
<meilingc@usc.edu>. The best way to contact me is via email. You are also encouraged to
schedule individual meetings with the Teaching Assistant/Assistant Instructor, if we have one.
II. How to arrange for academic accommodation.
Students requesting academic accommodation based on a disability are required to register
with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for
approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed.
Please be sure the letter is delivered to the Professor as early in the semester as possible. DSP
is located at the USC Center for Academic Support,
http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html; the office's phone
number is (213) 740-0776; email ability@usc.edu.
III. How to receive early notification of grades at the end of the term.
You may email the Professor to get your grade. For the sake of confidentiality, no grade
postcard will be sent, nor any grade sheet posted.
IV. How to have an absence excused.
Attendance is mandatory for both lecture and discussion. When you need to be absent, you
should email the professor and bring in a written note, documenting the date and the reasons
for your absence, when you return to class. If you need to miss more than three consecutive
classes, you need to supply a letter from a guardian or parent that contains a telephone number
so that the Professor or the TA/AI may contact your guardian when necessary. Note: There
will be a signing-sheet passed around for attendance record. It’s your responsibility to make
sure that your signature is on the attendance record. Please note also that a telephone message
will not be sufficient to have your absence excused.
V. Cheating or Plagiarism.
Dishonesty in any form harms the individual, other students, and the School of Theatre.
Therefore, USC policies on academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Papers suspected
of containing plagiarized material (the unacknowledged or inappropriate use of another's ideas,
wording, or images) will be verified for authenticity through turn-it-in.com, an Internet service
subscribed by SOT. I expect you to familiarize yourself with the academic integrity guidelines
found in the current "SCampus" www.usc.edu/dept/publicatiohns/scampus).
VI. Code of Conduct regarding in-class behavior.
Any talking, eating, newspaper reading, Internet or cell phone browsing, or unruly behavior
that disrupts the lecture and the discussion/presentation is unacceptable. You should leave the
classroom if you need to talk in private. If you persist in interrupting the class, you will be
referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards.
VII. About the Syllabus.
The syllabus is subject to change.
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--11
THTR 405m/Cheng/2012--12