Overview
This course is structured around a series of case studies of particular moments in the history of the representation of sex and violence in dramatic and musical performances. While these themes have been often regarded as taboo, the history of performance shows that we have never been able to resist these themes for long. Indeed, considering dangerous ideas through the medium of performance is one of the most valuable contributions music and drama can make to civilization.
To some degree, the history of sex and violence in performance is a history of changing tastes and changing morals. With that in mind, we will try to avoid two pitfalls that could threaten to put an end to useful discussion: excessive censoriousness and mindless titillation. To put the point plainly, it is not our business to attack and sanctimoniously lecture those living in earlier ages for not being as enlightened as our selves. But neither does this mean that we should take an entirely uncritical attitude. The possibility of real learning falls somewhere in between.
Learning Outcomes
After completing MUTH 201, you will be able to:
- Identify the central recurring social issues engaged through the representation of sex and violence in performance;
- List a range of aesthetic strategies for representing controversial aspects of human experience;
- Explain the use of performance to moderate the tensions between psychological impulses and cultural imperatives;
- Demonstrate how controversial works engage philosophical and practical issues of censorship;
- Demonstrate how appeals to both pleasure and disgust play a role in formulating an intellectual response to a performance;
- Analyze how the interplay between emotion and artistic form works to affect the judgment of an audience;
- Analyze how critical readings of the specific historical examples included in this course can be extended to inform the interpretation of other works of performance.