Courses

This course introduces students to the rich histories of modern and contemporary German-language theater and performance. The turn of the 20th century marks the emergence of modernist production styles beyond classical text-based theater, and the beginnings of the “performative turns” that were to shape avant-garde, postmodern and contemporary practices, as well as cultural theory beyond the institution of theater as such. The course familiarizes students with the analytic lens of performance studies, and deploys it to study theater and performance as part of larger cultural histories from the German Kaiserreich to the “Berlin Republic.” Both within the institutional space of the theater and beyond, 20th and 21st-century performance practices allow us to trace changing concepts of art and activism, norms and collective identities. From a comparative media studies angle, the course further underlines how theater and performance have functioned at the crossroads of different media, from the literary text (the prime enemy of much 20th-century theater and performance theory) to film and video, competitors which have become integral elements of live theater culture in the 21st century. In addition to a range of readings (theory, drama/ performance texts, reviews, etc.), we will incorporate audiovisual materials as much as possible (performance documentation where available plus related film materials). 

This course is taught in German.