Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Wayang plays History and criticism'
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Bokwe, Goliath Dumezweni. "Sarcasm, conflict and style in Mtywaku's plays." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002169.
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Staton, Maria S. "Christianity in American Indian plays, 1760s-1850s." Virtual Press, 2006. http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1364944.
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The main purpose of this study is to prove that the view on the American Indians, as it is presented in the plays, is determined by two dissimilar sets of values: those related to Christianity and those associated with democracy. The Christian ideals of mercy and benevolence are counterbalanced by the democratic values of freedom and patriotism in such a way that secular ideals in many cases supersede the religious ones. To achieve the purpose of the dissertation, I sifted the plays for a list of notions related to Christianity and, using textual evidence, demonstrated that these notions were not confined to particular pieces but systematically appeared in a significant number of plays. This method allowed me to make a claim that the motif of Christianity was one of the leading ones, yet it was systematically set against another major recurrent subject—the values of democracy. I also established the types of clerical characters in the plays and discovered their common characteristic—the ultimate bankruptcy of their ideals. This finding supported the main conclusion of this study: in the plays under discussion, Christianity was presented as no longer the only valid system of beliefs and was strongly contested by the outlook of democracy.I discovered that the motif of Christianity in the American Indian plays reveals itself in three ways: in the superiority of Christian civilization over Indian lifestyle, in the characterization of Indians within the framework of Christian morality, and in the importance of Christian clergy in the plays. None of these three topics, however, gets an unequivocal interpretation. First, the notion of Christian corruption is distinctly manifest. Second, the Indian heroes and heroines demonstrate important civic virtues: desire for freedom and willingness to sacrifice themselves for their land. Third, since the representation of the clerics varies from saintliness to villainy, the only thing they have in common is the impracticability and incredulity of the ideas they preach. More fundamental truths, it is suggested, should be sought outside of Christianity, and the newly found values should be not so much of a "Christian" as of "democratic" quality.Department of English
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利幗勤 and Kwok-kan Gloria Lee. "Chinese translations of Wilde's plays and fairy tales: a reappraisal." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1999. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31222961.
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Weiss, Katherine. "The Plays of Samuel Beckett." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. http://amzn.com/140814557X.
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Beckett remains one of the most important writers of the twentieth century whose radical experimentations in form and content won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. This Critical Companion encompasses his plays for the stage, radio and television, and will be indispensable to students of his work.
Challenging and at times perplexing, Beckett's work is represented on almost every literature, theatre and Irish studies curriculum in universities in North America, Europe and Australia. Katherine Weiss' admirably clear study of his work provides the perfect companion, illuminating each play and Beckett's vision, and investigating his experiments with the body, voice and technology. It includes in-depth studies of the major works Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Krapp's Last Tape, and as with other volumes in Methuen Drama's Critical Companions series it features too a series of essays by other scholars and practitioners offering different critical perspectives on Beckett in performance that will inform students' own critical thinking. Together with a series of resources including a chronology and a list of further reading, this is ideal for all students and readers of Beckett's work.https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1072/thumbnail.jpg
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Turner, Irene. "Farce on the borderline with special reference to plays by OscarWilde, Joe Orton and Tom Stoppard." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1987. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31949204.
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Boguszak, Jakub. "Actors' parts in the plays of Ben Jonson." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7732f887-5a9d-4fc6-afce-9bc4242265f9.
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The thesis continues the work undertaken in recent years by (in alphabetical order) James J. Marino, Scott McMillin, Paul Menzer, Simon Palfrey, Tiffany Stern, Evelyn Tribble, and others to put to use what is now known about the purpose, distribution, and usage of early modern actors' parts. The thesis applies the new methodology of reading 'in parts', or reconstituting early modern plays 'in parts', to the body of plays written by Ben Jonson. The aim of the project is to offer a reconsideration of Jonson as a man of theatre, interested not only in the presentation of his works in print, but also in their production at the Globe and at Blackfriars. By reconstructing and examining the parts through which the actors performing in Jonson's plays accessed their characters, the thesis proposes answers to the questions: how can we read and analyse Jonson's plays differently when looking at them in terms of actors' parts; did Jonson write with parts in mind; what did Jonsonian parts have to offer actors by way of challenge and guidance; what can we learn from parts about Jonson's assumptions and demands with regard to the actors; and how did actors themselves respond to those demands. These questions are significant because they engage critically with the tradition of seeing Jonson as a playwright dismissive of actors and distrustful of the theatre; they seek to establish a perspective that allows us to assess Jonson's abilities to instruct and challenge his actors through staging documents. More generally, the research contributes to the studies of the early modern rehearsal and staging practices and invites consideration of Shakespeare's part-writing techniques in contrast with those of his major rival. With no surviving early modern parts from Jonson's plays (indeed with only a handful of surviving parts from the period), the first task is to determine the level of accuracy with which the parts can be reconstructed from Jonson's printed plays. Stephen Orgel was by no means the first critic who used the example of Sejanus to assert that Jonson habitually doctored his plays before they were published, but his view has become a critical commonplace. This thesis re-examines the case of Jonson's revisions and concludes that, far from being representative, the 1605 Sejanus quarto is an anomaly which Jonson himself needed to account for in his address to the reader. It is true that Jonson cultivated a distinct style of presentation of printed material, but the evidence that he extensively tampered with the texts themselves after they were performed is scarce (again, the revisions found in the Folio versions of Every Man in His Humour and Cynthia's Revels are addressed and found to be exceptional, rather than typical), while the evidence of his pride in the original compositions and performances is much stronger. Since such enhancements as dedicatory poems, arguments (i.e. plot summaries), character sketches, or marginalia have no bearing on the shapes of actor's parts, they do not in any way compromise the reliability of the printed texts as sources from which Jonson's parts can, argues the thesis, be reconstructed with reasonable accuracy. Jonson, himself an actor and apparently a friend and admirer of a number of great actors of his age (Edward Alleyn, Nathan Field, Richard Robinson, Salomon Pavy, Richard Burbage), knew from personal experience how much depended on actors mastering, or, in their terminology, being 'perfect' in, their parts. By granting the actor access only to select portions of the complete play-text (i.e. his own lines and cues), the part effectively regulated the performance in cases when the actor had only limited knowledge of the rest of the play. Such cases seem to have been very common: documentary evidence suggests that actors had to learn their parts on their own over the course of a few weeks, and only then attended group rehearsals, most of which were concerned with 'business', not text which had already been learned. While some might have attended a reading of the play (if one was arranged for the benefit of the sharers, for instance), or gained more information about the play from their fellow actors, the parts remained their chief means of internalising their text and acquiring a sense of the play they were in. Jonson, who was not a resident playwright with any company performing in London and thus probably did not always have easy and regular access to the actors, could sometimes have taken advantage of the actors' dependence on their parts and crafted the parts as a means of exercising control over the performances of his plays. Building on this premise, the thesis examines various features of actors' parts that would have made a difference to an actor's performance. It draws on recent advancements in the studies of textual cohesion (linguistic features such as reference, substitution, ellipsis, etc.) to point out how the high and low frequency of cohesive ties (pairs of cohesively related words or phrases) in various sections of the part would have given an actor a good idea of how prominent his part was at any given moment. It examines Jonson's use of cues and patterns of cueing: like Shakespeare, Jonson was fond of using repeated cues to open up a space for improvisation, and he seems to have been aware of the need to provide the apprentices in the company with parts cued by a limited number of actors so as to allow for easier private rehearsals with their masters. The thesis also examines the common feature of Jonson's 'split jokes' - jokes that are divided across multiple parts - and asks whether any kind of comic effect can be achieved by excluding the punch line of a joke from the part that contains its setup, and the setup from the part that delivers the punch line, offering a fresh look at the nature of early modern comedy. In structural terms, the thesis considers how a narrative constituted solely by the lines present on an actor's part can diverge from the narrative of the play as a whole and how an understanding of a play as a text composed of actors' parts, as well as of acts and scenes, can help to refine arguments about Jonson's assumptions about the strengths of the companies for which he wrote. What emerges is an image of Jonson who, far from concerned only with readership, consciously developed a brand of comedy that was uniquely suited to, perhaps even relying on, the solipsistic manner in which the actors received and learned their parts.
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Pouliot, Carolle. "Le scénario : cinéma ou littérature?, suivi de Malebouge." Thesis, McGill University, 1987. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=63846.
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馮瑞龍 and Ruilong Feng. "A critical study of the love theme plays of the Yuan dynasty, 1279-1368." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1988. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31208599.
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Ramukosi, Patrick Mbulaheni. "Modern tragedy : a critical analysis of the elements of tragedy with special reference to N.A. Milubi's plays." Thesis, University of Limpopo, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2336.
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Allingham, Philip Victor. "Dramatic adaptations of the Christmas books of Charles Dickens, 1844-8 : texts and contexts." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/28615.
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Although Dickens' familiarity with Victorian theatre has been explored with reference to his own playwrighting, amateur theatricals, style, and characterization, little work has been done on his actual
involvement with the adaptation of his works for the stage. For example, even though A Christmas Carol remains his most staged and filmed work, few critics have explored the degree of Dickens' involvement in the 'officially-sanctioned' adaptation by one of the Victorian theatre's most prolific adaptors, Edward Stirling. Dickens' letters shed some light on his involvement
in the staging of the various Christmas Books, but they do not indicate much about the adaptations
themselves.
Furthermore, neither Malcolm Morley in his series
of articles in the Dickensian nor F. Dubrez Fawcett in Dickens the Dramatist (1952) has considered the relationship between the final printed text of each novella, that of the corresponding official adaptation, and the original manuscript of the play that was submitted to the office of the Lord Chamberlain
for licensing.
While the intention of the following dissertation
is to reveal the methods employed by Dickens' stage adaptors, it occasionally reveals passages that, rejected for the final text of the novella, were retained in the drama, based as it was on early proof sheets. The most notable instance of such a phenomenon occurs in the Mark Lemon/Gilbert A'Beckett adaptation of the second of the Christmas Books, The Chimes (1844), in which Dickens seems to have modified the plot in the final stages in order to make it less controversial.
Although Dickens was not much involved in the staging of The Chimes, he appears to have worked closely with the company at the Royal Lyceum (his friends the Keeleys being both the comedic stars and managers of that theatre) and the adaptor, Albert
Smith. In the 1846 production of The Battle of Life Dickens made innovative suggestions about the staging, including the transformation scene and the use of a miniature coach advancing through the background,
climaxed by the appearance of a real carriage
on stage. Dickens' letters attest to his being the originator of these innovations; reviews in the contemporary press attest to their effectiveness.
Finally, despite their tremendous popularity in their own day, the dramatic adaptations of the Christmas Books seem to be accorded a place neither in studies of the early Victorian theatre nor in discussions of that most formative period in the literary
career of Charles Dickens, the 1840s. The Christmas Books and their theatrical progeny occupied a good deal of Dickens' time between Martin Chuzzle-wit and David Copperf ield, but only recently have the importance of the Christmas Books and the scope of Dickens' works on stage been fully recognized.
Another intention of this study is to reveal the extent of Dickens' role in the dramatisation of the Christmas Books through an examination of the texts of the sanctioned adaptations and the Christmas Books themselves. The dissertation has a two-fold structure in that it consists of a critical study of the plays and their contexts, as well as a (non-critical)
edition of Stirling's Christmas Carol and Lemon's Haunted Man, which exist only in manuscript. No previous writer on the subject of Dickens and the drama has attempted to bring together information on the adaptors, actors and actresses, theatres, play manuscripts and published texts. This dissertation provides an exhaustive study of what is known about these subjects while endeavouring to establish the extent of Dickens' involvement in the writing and staging of the officially-sanctioned plays based on the Christmas Books.
Would that Christmas lasted the whole year through, and that the prejudices and passions which deform our better nature, were never called into action among those to whom they should ever be strangers!
(Charles Dickens, Sketches By Boz, p. 210)Arts, Faculty of
English, Department of
Graduate
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彭文慧 and M. W. Petti Pang. "The image of physics and physicists in modern drama: portraits and social implications." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31225056.
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Herrell, LuAnn R. Venden. "No Slip-Shod Muse: A Performance Analysis of Some of Susanna Centlivre's Plays." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2000. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2524/.
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In 1982, Richard C. Frushell urged the necessity for a critical study of Susanna Centlivre's plays. Since then, only a handful of books and articles briefly discuss herand many attempt wrongly to force her into various critical models.
Drawing on performativity models, my reading of several Centlivre plays (Love's Contrivance, The Gamester, The Basset-Table and A Bold Stroke for a Wife) asks the question, "What was it like to see these plays in performance?" Occupying somewhat uneasy ground between literature and theatre studies, I borrow useful tools from both, to create what might be styled a New Historicist Dramaturgy.
I urge a re-examination of the period 1708-28. The standard reading of theatre of the period is that it was static. This "dry spell" of English theatre, most critics agree, was filled with stock characters and predictable plot lines. But it is during this so-called "dry spell" that Centlivre refines her stagecraft, and convinces cautious managers to bank on her work, providing evidence that playwrights of the period were subtly experimenting.
The previous trend in scholarship of this cautious and paranoid era of theatre history has been to shy away from examining the plays in any depth, and fall back on pigeonholing them. But why were the playwrights turning out the work that they did? What is truly representative of the period? Continued examination may stop us from calling the period a "dry spell." For that purpose, examining some of Centlivre's early work encourages us to avoid the tendency to study only a few playwrights of the period, and to avoid the trap of focusing on biography rather than text.
I propose a different kind of aesthetic, stemming from my interest in the text as precursor to performance. Some of these works may not seem fertile ground for theorists, but discarding them on that basis fails to take into account their original purpose: to entertain.
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Chow, Po-fun Wendy, and 周寶芬. "Carnivalization and subversion of order in comic plays, with referenceto Shakespeare's Twelfth night and Herry IV." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1987. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31948996.
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Hjul, Lauren Martha. "The family in Shakespeare's plays: a study of South African revisions." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001832.
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This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage
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Eckardt, Michael. "The development of film criticism in Cape Town's daily press 1928-1930 : an explorative investigation into the Cape Times and Die Burger." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53767.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines the development of film criticism in Cape Town's daily press from 1928 to 1930, using film reviews from the newspapers the Cape Times and Die Burger as sources. The study starts with an overview of studies concerning early South African film history, and characterizes it as a rather underdeveloped field of study. The character of film criticism in the period under discussion is explained by using a description of the general function of film criticism as a basis and taking film criticism in the Weimar Republic of Germany as an example for the following comparison. The basis for the comparative analysis is a list of films screened in three selected cinemas in Cape Town from 1928 to 1930. Part of the analysis is an empirical study to examine the quantitative development of film reviews in the period under discussion. Length ranges with which to characterize film reviews are defined and the preferred average lengths of reviews for both newspapers as well as for films screened at the particular cinemas are listed. The qualitative part of the study is a content analysis of two selected groups of films: 1. films which received average-size reviews and 2. films which ran longer than average and received above-average size reviews. The survey reveals that the Cape Times followed a "quantitative strategy", reviewing all films screened and that Die Burger had a "qualitative The reviews strategy", in both reviewing specially selected films only. newspapers can be characterized as functionalistic. The Cape Times displayed their business orientation by publishing mostly advertisement-like reviews; Die Burger's political orientation was reflected in comments about the language in sound films, including film and cinema into the language struggle. The study demonstrates that newspapers are a valuable source for research concerning early South African film history. The existing standard reference, Thelma Gutsche's The History and Social ,Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa 1895-1940 can be fruitfully complemented by using Afrikaans newspapers, as well as the writings of the Afrikaner film critic Hans Rompel.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die ontwikkeling van rolprentresensies in die pers van Kaapstad in die jare 1928 tot 1930 en gebruik daarvoor resensies van die nuuskoerante Cape Times en Die Burger. Die ondersoek begin met 'n oorsig van die vroeë Suid Afrikaanse rolprentgeskiedenis. Die karakter van rolprentresensie in die gegewe periode word verduidelik deur 'n beskrywing van die algemene funksie om rolprentresensie as "n basis te gebruik en rolprentresensies in die Duitse Weimar Republiek as 'n voorbeeld vir die opvolgende vergelyking te neem. Die basis vir die vergelykende analise is 'n lys van rolprente wat in drie geselekteerde bioskope in Kaapstad gedurende die periode van 1928 tot 1930 gewys is. 'n Gedeelte van die analise behels 'n empiriese studie om die kwantitatiewe ontwikkeling van rolprentrensensies gedurende die gegewe periode te ondersoek. Lengte reekse word gedefinieer om die resensies te karakteriseer, en die verkose gemiddelde lengtes van resensies word gelys vir beide nuuskoerante as ook vir films wat by die geselekeerde cinemas gewys is. Die kwalitatiewe gedeelte van die studie is 'n inhoudanalise van twee geselekteerde groepe van rolprente: 1. rolprente wat resensies van gemiddelde lengte ontvang het en 2. rolprente wat langer as gemiddeld gewys is en resensies van bo-gemiddelde lengte ontvang het. Die ondersoek wys uit dat die Cape Times 'n "kwantitatiewe strategie" gevolg het deur alle rolprente te resenseer, terwyl die Die Burger 'n "kwalitatiewe strategie" gevolg het deur net gekeurde rolprente te resenseer. Die resensies in albei nuuskoerante kan as funkionalisties beskryf word. Die Cape Times lig sy besigheidsgeorienteerde houding uit, deur grotendeels advertensie-gelyke resensies te skryf; Die Burger demonstreer sy politiese orientering deur kommentaar oor die taalgebruik in klankrolprente te lewer en sluit so rolprente en bioskope in die taalstryd in. Die studie demonstreer dat koerante 'n waardevolle inligtingsbron vir navorsing oor die vroeë Suid Afrikaanse rolprentgeskiedenis lewer. Die bestaande standaardverwysing, Thelma Gutsche se The History and Social Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa 1895-1940 kan suksesvol gekomplimenteer word deur gebruik te maak van Afrikaanse koerante, as ook van die tekste van die Afrikaanse filmkritikus, Hans Rompel.
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Hutchison, Yvette. ""Memory is a weapon" : the uses of history and myth in selected post-1960 Kenyan, Nigerian and South African plays." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/51338.
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Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 1999.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In hierdie proefskrif word gekyk na die verwantskap tussen geskiedenis, mite, geheue en teater. Daar word ook gekyk na die mate waartoe historiese of mitiese toneelstukke gebruik kan word om die amptelike geheue en identiteite, soos deur bewindhebbers in post-koloniale Nigerie en Kenya geskep, terug kon wen of uit kon daag. Hierdie werke word dan vergelyk met die soort teater wat tydens die Apartheidbewind in Suid-Afrika geskep is, om verskille en ooreenkomste in die gebruik van historiese en mitiese gegewens te bekyk. Die slotsom is dat een van die belangrikste kenmerke van die teater in vandag se samelewing sy vermod is om alternatiewe historiese narratiewe te ontwikkel wat kan dien as teen-geheue ("counter-memory") vir die dominante narratief van amptelike geskiedenisse. Sodoende bevraagteken die teater dan ook 'n liniere en causale siening van die geskiedenis, maar interpreteer dit eerder as meervoudig en kompleks.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: This thesis considers the relationship between history, myth, memory and theatre. The study explores the extent to which historic or mythic plays were used to either reclaim or challenge the official memories and identities created by those in power in the postcolonial Kenyan and Nigerian context. These are then compared to the South African theatre created during Apartheid, exploring the similarities and differences in the South Africans use of historic or mythic referents. The conclusion reached is that one of the most powerful aspects of theatre in society is its ability to create alternate historic narratives that become a counter-memory to the dominant narrative of official histories. It also challenges seeing history as linear and causal, and makes it more plural and complex.
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Simpson, Hope W. "The Invention and Impacts of Hell’s Atmosphere: A Study of the Influence of Sartrean Themes in Two Plays by Alfonso Sastre." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/168.
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In this thesis I will discuss the influence of Sartrean themes found in Jean-Paul Sartre’s plays: No Exit (Huis clos), Les Mouches (The Flies), and Dirty Hands (Les Mains sales), on the theater of Alfonso Sastre, particularly in the plays: Death Squad (Escuadra hacia la muerte), and In the Net (En la red). In No Exit, the famous quote “Hell is other people,” sets the standard for what type of discussion Sartre initiates in his theater. I will compare the historical context and the Hells that Sartre and Sastre both experienced during their time as active playwrights and how this influences the Hellish environments the two playwrights create for their characters in each of their plays. Following this study of context, I will compare the diabolical atmospheres created in the plays, how they are created and their impacts on the characters and text.
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Makosana, Nomkhitha Ethley. "A comparative study of six Xhosa radio dramas." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/69076.
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Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 1991.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is based on the comparison of six Xhosa radio dramas spanning the period 1987 and 1988. The main objective is to investigate the strengths and weaknesses which manifest themselves in the dramas. The dramas are compared with respect to the six structural elements of drama viz., theme, plot, characterization, time and space, and the techniques of production.Themes are studied to establish whether there have been any developments as far as the choice of themes is concerned in Xhosa radio dramas or whether there has been stagnation. Also given is a brief literary history of the themes broadcast in the Xhosa radio. The analysis of the plot structure is also done to identify the areas where they met the requirements successfully as well as where they failed to. The dramas are analysed according to the traditional approach Le. the exposition, complication, climax and the denouement.With regard to characterization, the characters are classified according to the function they perform viz., the protagonist, antagonist, tritagonist and confidante. They are also analysed according to their individual nature Le. whether they are static or dynamic, mono- or multidimensional etc. Techniques that the playwrights have used in the portrayal of their characters are also examined.The aspects of time and space are also discussed, to investigate the artistic skills of the different dramatists in handling the time and space relations. Time is viewed with respect to the following: order, duration, frequency, tempo and the presentation of the time structures. Space is discussed with respect to the following: type, function, and the techniques of localisation.A critical comparison of the production techniques used by these different playwrights is explored, the focus being on the microphone, sound effects and music. The examination conducted in the study basically revealed that there is little development in Xhosa radio dramas.The themes that are broadcast are mainly for entertainment and consequently have little intellectual depth. There is also a lack of innovation which is shown by the repetition of the same themes.The playwrights also lack skill as far as plot construction is concerned. The plays are devoid of conflict The absence of conflict in the dramas has an effect on characterization. It has given rise to weak antagonists in the dramas. Lack of focus regarding the main character is one of the faults that is evident in the dramas. Because of the fact that all characters are on the level of importance, it becomes difficult to pin-point who the focal character is. Finally, the Xhosa radio dramas discussed in this thesis revealed that there is latent potential in the Xhosa dramatists and the producers. It is therefore necessary that they should be motivated towards research on the subject and consultation with people who are knowledgeable in this sub-genre. Such actions could be of assistance towards the improvement of skills and techniques needed in the writing of the radio drama
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is gebaseer op die vergelyking van ses Xhosa radio dramas wat strek oor die tydperk 1987-1988. Die hoofdoelstelling is om die sterkpunte en swakpunte te ondersoek soos dit na vore kom in die dramas. Die dramas sal vergelyk word met betrekking tot die ses strukturele elemente van die drama, naamlik, tema, intrige, karakterisering, tyd en ruimte, en die tegnieke van produksie. Die temas van die dramas is ondersoek om vas te stel of enige ontwikkelings wat betref die keuse van temas plaasgevind het, en of daar stagnasie was in hierdie verb and. Voorts sal 'n kort ootsig gegee word van die liter ere temas in radio Xhosa dramas. Die analise van die intrige van die dramas word gedoen om vas te stel waar daar suksesvol of onsuksesvol voldoen is aan vereistes. Die dramas word ontleed volgens die tradisionele benadering van uiteensetting, verwikkeling, klimaks en die afwikkeling. Betreffende karakterisering, word karakters geklassifiseer volgens die funksie wat hulle vervul, naamlik die protagonis, die antagonis, die tritagonis, en die vertroueling. Karakters kan ook ontleed word volgens hulle individuele karakter, dit is, in welke mate hulle staties of dinamies is, enkel- of multi-dimension eel, ens. Tegnieke wat die skrywers gebruik het in die uitbeelding van hulle karakters word ook ondersoek Die aspekte van tyd en ruimte word bespreek ten einde die artistieke vaardighede van die verskillende skrywers te ondersoek in die hantering van tyd en ruimte verbande. Tyd word ondersoek ten opsigte van volgorde, duur, frekwensie, tempo en die aanbieding van die tyd strukture. Ruimte word bespreek met betrekking tot die aspekte van tipe, funksie en die tegnieke van lokalisering. 'n Kritiese vergelyking word gedoen van die produksietegnieke wat aangewend is deur die verskillende skrywers, met die fokus op mikrofoon klankeffekte en musiek Die ondersoek in hierdie studie toon aan dat daar geringe ontwikkeling is in die Xhosa radio dramas. Die temas van die dramas wat uitgesaai word is hoofsaaklik van 'n vermaaklikheids aard met geen intellektuele diepte nie. Daar is ook 'n tekort aan vernuwing, soos aangedui deur die herhaling van dieselfde temas. Die skrywes toon ook 'n tekort aan vaardigheid wat betref die konstruksie van die struktuur van. intrige. Die dramas toon weinig konflik Die afwesigheid van konflik het ook 'n invloed op die krakterisering, wat aanleiding gee tot swak antagoniste in die dramas.'n Gebrekkige fokus betreffende die hootkarater is een van die foute wat opvallend is in die dramas. Omdat byna al die karakters op dieselfde vlak van belangrikheid is, is dit moeilik om te bepaal watter karakter die hootkarater is. Laastens, die Xhosa radio dramas wat ontleed is in hierdie studie toon dat daar latente potensiaal is in die Xhosa skrywers en regiseurs. Dit is nodig dat hulle aangemoedig word om navorsing te doen oor die onderwerp. Konsultasie met kundiges op hierdie sub-genre kan 'n hulp wees in die verbetering van vaardighede en tegnieke wat nodig is vir die skryf van radio dramas.
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Pfeiffer, Kerstin. "Passionate encounters : emotion in early English Biblical drama." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/3575.
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This thesis seeks to investigate the ways in which late medieval English drama produces and theorises emotions, in order to engage with the complex nexus of ideas about the links between sensation, emotion, and cognition in contemporary philosophical and theologial thought. It contributes to broader considerations of the cultural work that religious drama performed in fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century England in the context of the ongoing debates concerning its theological and social relevance. Drawing on recent research in the cognitive sciences and the history of emotion, this thesis conceives of dramatic performances as passionate encounters between actors and audiences – encounters which do not only re-create biblical history as a sensual reality, but in which emotion becomes attached to signs and bodies through theatrical means. It suggests that the attention paid to the processes through which audiences become emotionally invested in a play challenges assumptions about biblical drama of the English towns as a negligible contribution to philosophical and theological thinking in the vernacular. The analysis is conducted against the background of medieval and modern conceptions of emotions as ethically and morally relevant phenomena at the intersection between body and reason, which is outlined in chapter one. Each of the four main chapters presents a detailed examination of a series of pageants or plays drawn mainly from the Chester and York cycles and the Towneley and N-Town collections. These are supplemented, on occasion, with analysis of individual plays from fragmentary cycles and collections. The examinations undertaken are placed against the devotional and intellectual backdrop of late medieval England, in order to demonstrate how dramatic performances of biblical subject matter engage with some of the central issues in the wider debate about the human body, soul, and intellect. The second chapter focuses on the creation of living images on the stage, and specifically on didactically relevant stage images, in the Towneley Processus Prophetarum, the Chester Moses and the Law, and the N-Town Moses. The third chapter shifts the focus to the performance of the Passion in the N-Town second Passion play and the York Crucifixio Christi, concentrating on the potential effects of the perception of physical violence on audience response. The subject of chapter four is the emotional behaviours and expressions accorded to the Virgin Mary in the Towneley and N-Town Crucifixion scenes, and those of her precursors, the mothers of the innocents, in the Digby and Coventry plays of the Massacre of the Inncocents. In chapter five, the analysis finally turns to dramatisations of the Resurrection, examining its realisation on stage in the Chester Skinners’ play, as well as staged responses to the event by the apostles and the Marys in the N-Town The Announcement to the Three Marys; Peter and John at the Sepulchre and the Towneley Thomas of India. These four central chapters pave the way for a summary, in the conclusion, of the central problematic underpinning this thesis: how the evocation of emotion in an audience is linked to embodiment in theatrical performance, and tied to a certain awareness, on the part of playwrights, of the popular biblical drama’s potential as a locus of philosophical-theological debate.
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Edelman, Charles. "The theatrical and dramatic form of the swordfight in the chronicle plays of Shakespeare." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1988. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phe21.pdf.
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Najar, Daronkolae Esmaeil. "Pam Gems: Rethinking Her Life and the Impact of Her Plays on British Stage." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1523487108676837.
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Van, Dyke Margaret. "Theatrical re/enactments of Mennonite identity in the plays of Veralyn Warkentin and Vern Thiessen." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0007/MQ28913.pdf.
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Griffith, Mary Peyton. "Power and Relationships in the Plays of Neil LaBute: Directing and Performing in Some Girl(s)." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2012. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/112.
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This thesis explores the major works of Neil LaBute's career as a playwright and screenwriter, including the criticism he has received on theatrical and literary levels. The themes most prevalent in the thesis are the use of power and manipulation in the relationships between LaBute's characters and the ongoing maturation of his characters that coincides with the maturation of his work. The second section of the thesis follows the production, directing, and acting in LaBute's play Some Girl(s).
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Preston, Barry A. (Barry Alan). "Myths and Movies: a Mythographical Methodology of Motion Picture Analysis." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1996. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc279362/.
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Over the past decade, cinema studies scholars have begun to recognize the value of mythographical methodologies for motion picture analysis; however, most of the scholarly research in this field has focused either on mythic archetypal images or on monomythic narrative structure, rather than combining the two approaches into a unified theory. This essay addresses the problem by proposing a mythographical methodology of motion picture analysis based on Carl Jung's theory of archetypal images and Joseph Campbell's theories concerning the monomythic structure of heroic narratives. Combining the two approaches of myth interpretation results in a more comprehensive methodology for interpreting the mythic elements of motion pictures. This essay illustrates the application of this methodology through a detailed analysis of Terry Gilliam's film, The Fisher King.
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Jayawickrama, Sarojini. "Carnival, carnivalisation and the subversion of order, with reference to Shakespeare's Henry IV and Henry VI." Thesis, [Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong], 1991. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B13115601.
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Oxley, Natasha Emma Fortescue. "Talking taboos: the personal over the political? : contemporary Polish playwriting : theme and dramatic technique in selected modern Polish plays." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:036a5a0e-aa99-40f9-b610-4a267bc1e533.
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The focus of this thesis is contemporary Polish playwriting after Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004. From a broad reading of plays by many new writers, four playwrights were selected for study on the basis of prominence and artistic merit: Pawel Demirski, Dorota Maslowska, Malgorzata Sikorska-Miszczuk and Przemys law Wojcieszek. Their plays were studied as texts and in performance, and twelve main plays became the focus of closer analysis. The thesis identifies and examines three major concurrent themes in the works of these playwrights. Remembering versus forgetting the past is discussed through the lens of selected aspects of memory studies, including Nora's lieux de mémoire, Hirsch's postmemory and Assman's mnemohistory. The playwrights are shown to share an endorsement of the de-politicisation of collective memory and to advocate a cessation of the passing down of trauma to post-war generations. The human body is highlighted as another concurrent thematic concern and is illuminated by certain tenets of Catholic doctrine as well as Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. The playwrights' rejection of the tabooisation of the body is demonstrated and the shared notion of the body as both sentient and unifying is exemplified. Social marginalisation is examined as the final concern, with an emphasis on the notion of the 'other', particularly in relation to socio-economic status, sexuality, and religious beliefs. The plays are shown to support and promote a rejection of the myth of homogeneity in favour of openness to diversity. Major dramatic techniques are then closely examined. It is demonstrated that the plays share traits with Lehmann's theory of postdramatic theatre, including a rejection of Aristotelian unities. Key commonalities are evidenced, particularly comedy, bad language, intertextualities with the outside world, and an engagement with Polish social realities. The playwrights' approach to the spectator as a socio-political being is shown to be of paramount importance.
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Douglas, John Anthony Art College of Fine Arts UNSW. "Aberations of self : manifestations in cinema histories." Publisher:University of New South Wales. Art, 2008. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/43254.
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The Screen Test (Americana/Australiana) project is a collection of works that re-makes selected fragments of film spanning cinema history. Through a process of selectively slowing and stilling this form, of what Laura Mulvey calls Delayed Cinema, opens up new possibilities for interpreting and understanding cinema and the photographic. The aesthetic qualities and repetition of the scene or shot are re-created and re-performed, allowing an alternate form of cinema to take place. This alternate cinema takes on the characteristic of the Hollywood screen test and thus we can see each piece as the artist performing the screen test for each film. However, over time the screen test becomes the site for shifting the aesthetic elements within the film and shaping the narrative as a form of aesthetic building block. The viewing of each fragment allows for a new reading of film that suspends or subverts the temporal narrative and allows the contained segment to exist outside of the film opening up the possibility of constructing and emphasizing new iconic images and meanings. Each video piece is supplemented with a photographic still in tableaux form that further explores the aesthetic material of the film or shot raising the aesthetic components of the film ( props, locations etc) to the level of fetishism that may have been missed in the original version. This photographic rendering of the film fragment rethinks the possibilities of photographic tableaux and its relation to the iconic and indexical of photomedia art practice. Similarly, each photographic work is informed by theories of film analysis and psychology that has examined the primacy of the film still with Freudian notions of the primal scene and the uncanny. We are after all bringing to life the graveyard of cinema history. These photographic qualities of the mis en scene and the indexical of metonymy allow a heightened aesthetic experience, which transforms itself into an aberration of the directors intended meaning, thereby reconstructing this meaning within the context of camp humour and irony. The work also acts as a playful and absurd interpretation of the cult of celebrity within cinema and the art world, which frees up of the interpretation of the films meaning and becomes the site for contemporary re-readings of film culture. The juxtaposition of the American Hollywood film and its emphasis on studio lighting, props, character and dialogue against the outdoor location of the Australian films conflates the two cultural imperatives, allowing for the examination of cultural myth through cinema. American cinema is revealed as the dominant culture whose imperialism dogs Australian film and fosters a culture of low self-esteem. Further, the Americana works become the site for cultural examinations of gender, narcissism and war - both real and imagined and Hollywood is explored in terms of its social imaginings and how they play into real life events. The Australiana component explores the mythology of the Australian landscape with an emphasis on the culture of masculinity and self-destructive violence. However, each work is the result of a conflation of both cultures and other films, or parts of the same film, shifted within the fragment. The production of each photographic and video piece requires the taking on of the role of director, cinematographer, actor and producer. Through the use of interactive technologies such as DVD and the Internet not only am I able to experience a new subjective relationship with the intricacies of cinema but also by recreating these cinematic fragments I am able to bring into being and transform the spectre of cinema into the realm of contemporary art practice.
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Peeler, Scott Edward. "The dynamics of proximity : Hitchcock's cinema of claustrophobia." Scholarly Commons, 1988. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/2151.
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The implication of space in film is worth exploring in detail particularly with regard to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, since he is, perhaps more than any other filmmaker, concerned with the dynamics of proximity. Possibly because of his experience as a set designer on Graham Cutt’s silent films Woman to Woman (1922), The White Shadow (1923), The Passionate Adventure (1924), The Blackguard, and The Prude’s Fall (both 1925), Hitchcock very early in his career was faced with the task of expressing himself - without words - through setting, set shape, and room size. In Francois Truffaut's book, Hitchcock, the Master relates an important (since he remembers his) childhood episode in which his father arranged for the chief of police to lock him in a jail cell for five or ten minutes, admonishing that, “This is what we do to naughty boys.” Consequently, we see in Hitchcock’s films (which were all visually designed by him in the storyboard process) a persuasive aura of claustrophobia which involves a certain amount of connotes guilt and fear. As I intend to explain, this claustrophobia has far-reaching implications in five hermeneutic contexts, proving to be an important key to his moral-aesthetic universe.
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梁紫芳. "《金枝慾孽》戲說今日香港女性." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2005. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/677.
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Beaulieu, Renée. "Le poids des autres, suivi de La cohérence des personnages dans les scénarios de films." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2000. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape3/PQDD_0019/MQ53922.pdf.
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Idrissi, Nizar. "Stephen Poliakoff: another icon of contemporary British drama." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/210559.
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This thesis is an attempt to portray the birth of British modern drama and the most important figures breaking its new ground; more to the point, to shed light on the second generation of British dramatists breaking what G.B. Shaw used to call ‘middle-class morality’. The focal point here is fixed on Stephen Poliakoff, one of the distinctive dramatists in contemporary British theatre, his work and the dramatic tinge he adds to the new drama.Doctorat en Langues et lettres
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Johnson, Toria Anne. "'Piteous overthrows' : pity and identity in early modern English literature." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/4197.
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This thesis traces the use of pity in early modern English literature, highlighting in particular the ways in which the emotion prompted personal anxieties and threatened Burckhardtian notions of the self-contained, autonomous individual, even as it acted as a central, crucial component of personal identity. The first chapter considers pity in medieval drama, and ultimately argues that the institutional changes that took place during the Reformation ushered in a new era, in which people felt themselves to be subjected to interpersonal emotions – pity especially – in new, overwhelming, and difficult ways. The remaining three chapters examine how pity complicates questions of personal identity in Renaissance literature. Chapter Two discusses the masculine bid for pity in courtly lyric poetry, including Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella and Barnabe Barnes's Parthenophil and Parthenophe, and considers the undercurrents of vulnerability and violation that emerge in the wake of unanswered emotional appeals. This chapter also examines these themes in Spenser's The Faerie Queene and Sidney's Arcadia. Chapter Three also picks up the element of violation, extending it to the pitiable presentation of sexual aggression in Lucrece narratives. Chapter Four explores the recognition of suffering and vulnerability across species boundaries, highlighting the use of pity to define humanity against the rest of the animal kingdom, and focusing in particular on how these questions are handled by Shakespeare in The Tempest and Ben Jonson, in Bartholomew Fair. This work represents the first extended study of pity in early modern English literature, and suggests that the emotion had a constitutive role in personal subjectivity, in addition to structuring various forms of social relation. Ultimately, the thesis contends that the early modern English interest in pity indicates a central worry about vulnerability, but also, crucially, a belief in the necessity of recognising shared, human weakness.
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Gérard, Fabien. "La certitude et de doute: recherche du mystère et quête identitaire dans le cinéma de Bernardo Bertolucci." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211352.
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Clark, Marshall Alexander. "Wayang mbeling : Indonesian writers and the Javanese shadow theatre." Phd thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/146078.
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Li, Ching-wen. "The evolution of Chikamatsu's history plays." Master's thesis, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/139344.
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Gule, Welldone Theophilious Zibhekele. "One-act plays in Zulu." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/6784.
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D.Litt. et Phil.The following aspects are covered in this study: The historical development of Zulu drama. This development is divided into the following periods: Pre-colonial, Missionary and Post-Missionary; the period under discussion is the latter. Structuralism and Semiotics are applied to one-act plays. The Semiotic approach views drama as communication: every aspect of the dramatic space is viewed as a sign conveying meaning. Pfister's approach is also applied in this study. Research undertaken in African languages in South Africa on drama thus far is also examined so as to direct the present study toward a particular need. This is done in Chapter 1. In. Chapter 2 plot development and various types of plot in oneact plays are studied to ascertain which plot type is preferred by authors of one-act plays. Character is also studied in this chapter. In Chapter 3 theme is studied to determined whether it is open or closed. Dialogue is discussed in Chapter 4. Didascalies as a sign system and their significance and function are studied in Chapter 5. The final chapter, Chapter 6, is the evaluation of one-act plays in Zulu.
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Diamond, Charmaine. "Imidlalo enkundlanye : a thematic exploration of one-act plays in Zulu." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9196.
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M.A.Since 1983 there has been a revival in the publication of one-act plays in Zulu. The study attempts to examine a new aspect, namely theme, in one-act plays. In order to highlight the thematic shift in one-act plays, the themes in full-length plays are examined and a comparison is then made to see how the themes in one-act plays differ from these. The study is based on certain aspects of the theory of Semiotics and works with concepts proposed by Pfister (1988) namely: a) A-perspectival structure b) Open perspective structure c) Closed perspective structure There seems to be a change in what dramatists are focusing on in their plays. This change is discussed and it is established to what extent the shift has occurred.
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Khumalo, Ellie. "A critical analysis of N.F. Mbhele's one-act plays." Thesis, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10413/3022.
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This thesis investigates the appropriateness and the accuracy of Mbhele's artistry in writing his one-act plays from Izivunguvungu Zempilo, Ishashalazi and Ezemihla Nayizolo. It considers the formal literary elements which include characterisation, themes, setting, plot, dialogue and style of the writer inclusive of the language that has been used. It also involves different kinds of themes that are revealed by this dramatist in his work. His themes cover all the aspects of life. This includes the exploration of the previous political situation and its effect on the lives of the people, the effect of the Western influences on black South Africans and the people's perspectives on education and religion.
The theoretical framework that has been used in this study is the historical-biographical approach. The interview with the author has been very helpful in this regard. The purpose of the interview has been to develop some kind of understanding of the author's own ideas, his early life experiences, his educational background, and the sense of the situation the author writes about.
This study consists of six chapters; the first chapter serves as the general introduction for the whole thesis. The author's biographical notes, the identification and the discussion of the research methodology and the definition of some important terms, form part of chapter one. In each chapter, there is an explicit explanation of each formal literary element in relation to Mbhele's one-act plays. Chapter two deals with both characterisation and plot, because plot deals with all the events in a story and the way in which these events are
connected. All the events in a story involve the characters. Chapter three investigates the themes that are found in Mbhele's one-act plays, and the
ways in which they are revealed. Chapter four consists of the dialogue and style of the writer, which includes his use of the language and the form of address used by the characters to address each other. Chapter five discusses the social background of the characters in relation to what they do in the plays. This includes their given social circumstances, the time and the place which
the writer has created for them. Chapter six is the general conclusion for the whole study. It includes the summary, observation and some implications for further research.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.
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Hedley, Jocelyn School of English Media & Performing Arts UNSW. "The unpublished plays of Miles Franklin." 2007. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/40895.
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With the publication of her novel, My Brilliant Career, in 1901, Miles Franklin became the darling of the Sydney literati. Great things were expected of the little girl from the bush. But five years later, nothing had eventuated; her talent, Miles thought, was barely recognised in Australia. In the hope of gaining greater writing opportunities, she shipped to Chicago where she became involved in social reform. It was hard work and ill paid, and though she bewailed the fact that it sapped her writing energy, she nonetheless felt a commitment to the cause such that she remained for almost a decade. In her spare time, though, she continued to write -- and not just prose. More and more she wrote for the theatre, attempting to push into a world of which she had always dreamed. Blessed with a beautiful singing voice, she had long desired to be on the stage. This was impossible, though; her voice, she believed, had been ruined by bad training in her youth. To write for the stage, then, though a poor substitute, was at least in the field of her original ideal. Miles' plays, though, are not remembered today, and are little thought of in scholarship, are considered, in fact, to have failed. This gives the false impression that they were always little thought of. Her correspondence, however, reveals that at least five of the plays were produced, indicating a certain level of success. Miles Franklin's theatrical work, then, is surely worthy of further examination. This thesis looks at five of the plays in the light of Miles' life and in the light of the society in which she found herself. In turn, it uses the plays to reveal something of the nature of the playwright herself and to show that Miles Franklin's theatrical writing did not fail as once thought. In addition, it provides a complete bibliography of the plays (inclusive of locations), lists the duplications as they appear under alternate titles and provides synopses of a large number. This will make up for a gap in Miles Franklin scholarship and will facilitate other scholars in accessing the plays. This thesis, then, is an introduction to a new facet of Miles Franklin scholarship.
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Roark, Carolyn Dianne. "Socializing the audience culture, nation-building, and pedagogy in Chile's Teatro infantil /." Thesis, 2002. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3082892.
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Christie, Sheila. "Marking the boundaries : explorations of meaning and identity in the York Corpus Christi cycle." Thesis, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/10577.
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This thesis explores the implications of the relationships between building trade
guilds and the pageants they produced in York, and examines this relationship over the
two-hundred-year production of the York Cycle. Because this relationship and the
reception of any dramatic performance is heavily influenced by context, we need to look
closer at the social, political, and economic environment of late medieval York in order to
better understand the range of interpretations available to the Cycle's original audience.
Doing so also allows us to witness the issues of identity and community that are
negotiated throughout these plays. Chapter 1 examines the guilds responsible for most
day-to-day construction (the plasters, tilers, and carpenters) and explores the
interpretations that the conjunction of guild casting, play text, and historical context
invites. The Plasterers' "Creation" deals with issues of labour and political power,
economic fluctuations influence representations of family and community in the Tilers'
"Nativity," and the Carpenters' "Resurrection" explores issues of integrity and urban
corruption, while also representing a struggle for social authority. Chapter Two considers
the participation of groups outside of civic jurisdiction, most particularly the Masons, and
investigates the ways in which the York Cycle may have cut across boundaries (or united
"separate" groups) instead of, or as well as, reinforcing them. Finally, the changing
contexts that in turn changed (or re-focused) the meanings of these texts reveal the
boundaries over and through which concepts of identity and community were negotiated.
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Lyssa, Alison. "Performing Australia's black and white history: acts of danger in four Australian plays of the early 21 century." 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/714.
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Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in English in the Division of Humanities, Dept. of English, 2006.Thesis (MA)--Macquarie University (Division of Humanities, Department of English), 2006.
Bibliography: p. 199-210.
Introduction -- Defiance and servility in Andrew Bovell's Holy day -- Writing a reconciled nation: Katherine Thomson's Wonderlands -- Transformation of trauma: Tammy Anderson's I don't wanna play house -- The rage inside the pain: Richard J. Frankland's Conversations with the dead -- Conclusion: towards an understanding of witness to the trauma of invasion.
In an Australia shaped by neo-conservative government and by searing contention, national and global, over what the past is, how it should be allowed to affect the present and who are authentic bearers of witness, this thesis compares testimony to Australia's black/white relations in two plays by white writers, Andrew Bovell's 'Holy day' (2001) and Katherne Thomson's 'Wonderlands' (2003), and two black writers, Tammy Anderson's 'I don't wanna play house' (2001) and Richard J. Frankland's 'Conversations witht the dead' (2002).
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
210 p. ill. 30 cm
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Greyvenstein, Walter Robert. "The history and development of children's theatre in English in South Africa." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/9455.
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D.Litt. et Phil. (English)Although children's theatre has been recognised internationally as an important twentieth-century movement, in South Africa it has tended to be an activity with little prestige, few dedicated artists, and a limited core of dramatic texts that has largely been overlooked by literary scholars. The neglect in this country of children's theatre, a formal category of legitimate theatre, and the lack of investigation of its literature, provide the motivation for this thesis. The documentation of a chronology of productions that have been presented in English in South Africa from the earliest recorded performances to the present time, established in Appendix A, suggests the shape of this study and reveals the existence of a nucleus of children's playscripts. Commentary on, and analysis of, a selected number of these illuminates the genre and its development in South Africa. The Introduction to the work describes a methodology of empirical research. It works towards a broad definition of the concept children's theatre - by examining factors that gave rise to its establishment as a world-wide phenomenon; by establishing the relationship between children's theatre and the development of the child; by placing it in the wider context of theatre generally, and drama for children specifically; and by analysing accounts of three representative productions - one from the United States, the second from Britain and the third an indigenous South African play. Parameters are drawn and set to indicate the extent of the study and the layout of the chapters. Chapter One establishes a pattern from brief outlines of the development of children's theatre in Britain and the United States. In the scheme of the work as a whole, this chapter serves as a point of reference against which the development of South African children's theatre and
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Knowles, Adam Daniel. "Memories of England British identity and the rhetoric of decline in postwar British drama, 1956-1982 /." Thesis, 2003. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/utexas/fullcit?p3116103.
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Whittaker, Kristian. "Symbolic inversion and controversial Chinese plays : chiasmus as a literary device for identifying ambiguities in meaning and throwing light upon authorial intention." Phd thesis, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/136157.
Full textAbstract:
In China as elsewhere, drama has long been viewed as a powerful vehicle for affecting
political consciousness in terms of building support for or challenging official ideology.
Historically, the CCP leadership has recognised and reacted to the potentially large
influence playwrights may enjoy by imposing upon then an elaborate system of
administrative and social controls.
Prevailing leadership factions within the CCP at different times exercise their powers of
discretion to impose their own particular interpretations of Stalinist-Maoist orthodoxies.
Playwrights who are vie-wed as "controversial" are obliged to negotiate their
productions through this system, always aware of the possibility of being censored,
banned, publicly vilified or imprisoned.
Yet the system of co-option and coercion that playwrights confront often has a highly
ambiguous face. To a large extent this is necessarily so, as it works in conformity with a
Stalinist-Maoist system that has historically shown a marked tendency to shift towards
political extremes when faced with crisis. Under political conditions that include
ongoing factional power struggles at the apex of the Party political definitions
constantly shift. A person who is vilified as a bourgeois-liberal today may well be
castigated as an ultra-leftist tomorrow. Most playwrights who are labelled as controversial recognise their marginality to the
political system and some use this marginality to their own advantage by reflecting, in
their plays, the ambiguities inherent in the system. This thesis attempts to answer, in
both a general and particular fashion, how this is done. The thesis argues that it is possible to use different strategies to understand
controversial Chinese drama than has often been the norm. It may sometimes be
possible for those of less direct "China experience'' to utilise (or "substitute'', if you
will) certain structural analyses of literature in order to ''discover" the literary strategies
which controversial playwrights may employ in presenting their socio-political
critiques.
This use of structural analysis has a certain advantage in that it offers a testing ground
for the political assumptions that literary critics sometimes bring to bear when dealing
with highly ambiguous plays and playwrights who may find it necessary to be at times
less than open about their own motives in producing their work.
The thesis employs the strategy of examining closely a wellknown controversial play of
the 1980s - one that caused a literary storn1 when it was banned after only a few
performances in 1985. Wang Peigong's play WM is examined in relationship to several
other controversial plays which share with it the character of having a high degree of ambiguity.
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Suh, Joseph Che. "A study of translation strategies in Guillaume Oyono Mbia's plays." Thesis, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1687.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is focused on a study of translation strategies in Guillaume Oyono Mbia's plays. By using the sociological, formalistic and semiotic approaches to literary criticism to inform the analysis of the source texts and by applying descriptive models outlined within the framework of descriptive translation studies (DTS) to compare the source and target texts, the study establishes the fact that in his target texts Oyono Mbia, self-translating author, has produced a realistic and convincing portrait of his native Bulu culture and society depicted in his source texts by adopting the same default preservation and foreignizing strategy employed in his source texts. Oyono Mbia's works, his translation strategies and translational behaviour are situated in the context of the prevailing trend and attitude (from the sixties to date) of African writers writing in European languages and it is posited that this category of writers are in effect creative translators and that the strategies they use in their original compositions are the same as those outlined by translation scholars or effectively used by practitioners. These strategies enable the writer and the translator of this category of African literature to preserve the "Africanness" which is the essence and main distinguishing feature of that literature. Contrary to some scholars (cf. Bandia 1993:58) who regard the translation phenomenon evident in the creative writings of African writers writing in European languages as a process which is covert, semantic and secondary, the present study of Oyono Mbia's translation strategies clearly reveals the process as overt, communicative and primary. Taking Oyono Mbia's strategies as a case in point, this study postulates that since for the most part, the African writer writing in a European language has captured the African content and form in his original creative translation, what the translator simply needs to do is to carry over such content and form to the other European language.Linguistics
D.Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)
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Savilonis, Margaret Frances. ""--give us the history we haven't had, make us the women we can't be": motherhood & history in plays by Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems, 1976-1984." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/1257.
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Nel, Johannes Erasmus. "Harold Pinter : breading strategies with reference to The Birthday party, The Homecoming and One for the road." Thesis, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2131.
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"Western modernity and TV cloning: a case study of the Chinese version of Ugly Betty." 2012. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5549676.
Full textAbstract:
電視模式（TV formats）在全球的跨文化旅行，及其如何本土化以適應在地社會政經情境，成為值得學界關注和研究的主題。作為對這一主題的回應，本文致力於研究《醜女無敵》電視劇--“醜女貝蒂“模式在中國的本土化。借由對該劇文本、生產和觀眾解讀的綜合分析，本研究從宏觀上探索符號形式與中國社會變遷的關係。具體而言，研究者聚焦於以下研究問題：在當前電視模式貿易、克隆和本土化的背景下，中國電視劇《醜女無敵》與美國電視劇《醜女貝蒂》有何異同？在中華人民共和國這一特定社會情境下，《醜女無敵》受到了怎樣的政治、經濟限制？中國觀眾如何解讀《醜女無敵》電視劇？《醜女無敵》受歡迎的原因所在，及該劇表徵了怎樣的中國現代性？為回答以上問題，研究者採用了多種定質方法，即文本分析、民族志、焦點小組、檔案分析和深度訪談。其研究發現《醜女無敵》作為混雜性文本，兼有西方現代性元素和獨特的中國性。《醜女無敵》的生產受到了中國政經情境的極大限制。經濟力量有中心主導、系統地控制著生產過程。而政治力量的控制卻是散漫於整個生產者社群，并呈現去中心的狀態。中國觀眾在解讀《醜女無敵》時主要有两種模式：霸權式解讀与協商式解讀。而对抗式解读却在该剧的解读模式中呈现缺失状态。持有霸權式解讀的觀眾作為主流在諸多方面與權力中心一致，從而形成霸權效應。
《醜女無敵》可歸類為本研究所析霸權文本，并表徵和複製了一種中國現代（Chinese modernity）。轄制於党國，中國現代性在其三大結構性維度上都呈現高度的混雜性。就中國電視業發展趨勢而言，研究者認為全球電視模式在中國將愈加繁榮，因其有極大潛質成為霸權文本，繼而服務于權力中心。
With the increasing transcultural flow of television formats, the localization of these formats to fit various socio-political contexts is worthy of academic scrutiny. This is a case study on the TV drama Ugly Wudi (Chounv Wudi), the Chinese version of the global Ugly Betty format. Exploring textuality, production, and reception simultaneously, my dissertation sheds light on the relationship between symbolic forms and social transition in China. Specifically speaking, the research questions initiating this study are as follows: Under current TV format cloning, trading, and borrowing, what are the similarities and differences between the Chinese Ugly Wudi and the American Ugly Betty? In the specific context of the People’s Republic of China, what are the political and economic forces that constrain the production of Ugly Wudi? What are the audience interpretations of Ugly Wudi? What accounts for Ugly Wudi’s popularity, and to what extent does it reflect a Chinese version of modernity?
Multiple qualitative methods have been applied by the researcher to explicate the research questions, including textual analysis, ethnography, focus groups, archival analysis, and in-depth interviews. It is found that Ugly Wudi is a hybridized text that combines elements of Western modernity with Chinese particularities. As for Wudi’s production, there are significant constraints arising from China’s political economy. While the economic systematically controls the production with a center, the political is a decentered control pervasively conditioning the production community. Two different readings of the Wudi show are found, namely, the hegemonic reading and the negotiated reading; while the resistant reading is absent in the show’s viewership. The hegemonic audience forms the majority, coinciding with the authorities in many respects, which shows a hegemonic effect.
Ugly Wudi is a hegemonic text that can best represent and reproduce Chinese modernity. Charted by the party-state for legitimization, Chinese modernity shows a high degree of hybridization in its three structural dimensions. The researcher contends that television formatting will be a trend in the Chinese TV industry, as it has great potential to create hegemonic texts that serve the power center.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Zhang, Xiaoxiao
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-203).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Abstract also in Chinese; some appendixes also in Chinese .
Abstract --- p.i
Acknowledgements --- p.iv
Table of Content --- p.viii
Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- TV Format: A New Television Phenomenon
Chapter 1.2 --- The Ugly Betty Format: A Global Culture
Chapter 1.3 --- Significance and Contribution
Chapter 1.4 --- Chapter Outline
Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.18
Chapter 2.1 --- Localization of Global Television Formats
Chapter 2.2 --- Political Economy in Cultural Hybridization
Chapter 2.3 --- TV Formats and Social Transition
Chapter 2.4 --- Previous Studies on the Ugly Betty Format
Chapter 2.5 --- Research Questions
Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- METHODOLOGY --- p.35
Chapter 3.1 --- Textual Analysis
Chapter 3.2 --- Ethnographic Observation
Chapter 3.3 --- Focus Groups
Chapter 3.4 --- Archival Analysis
Chapter 3.5 --- In-depth Interviews
Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND POLITICAL ECONOMY CONTEXT --- p.51
Chapter 4.1 --- Media and Hegemony
Chapter 4.2 --- Market versus State
Chapter 4.3 --- Market, Politics, and Media Competition in China
Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: TV CLONING AND LOCAL MODERNITY --- p.87
Chapter 5.1 --- Contextualizing the Two Versions
Chapter 5.2 --- The Continuity of Modernity in the Ugly Betty Formula
Chapter 5.3 --- Ethnic Invisibility and Gender Normality
Chapter 5.4 --- When the Political and the Market Align
Chapter 5.5 --- Ugliness Is at Fault, Not the State
Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- PRODUCING THE CHINESE UGLY BETTY: DECENTERED POLITICAL AND CENTERED ECONOMIC CONTROLS --- p.114
Chapter 6.1 --- TV Production in China: Indicator of Dominance
Chapter 6.2 --- Decentered Political Control
Chapter 6.3 --- Centered Economic Control
Chapter 6.4 --- When the Political and the Economic Contradict
Chapter 6.5 --- Television Formats and Hegemony
Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- READING THE LOCALIZED UGLY BETTY: HEGEMONIC OR NEGOTIATED, BUT NOT RESISTANT --- p.140
Chapter 7.1 --- A Patterned Spectatorship
Chapter 7.2 --- Values Creolization in Contemporary China
Chapter 7.3 --- The Hegemonic Reading
Chapter 7.4 --- The Negotiated Reading
Chapter 7.5 --- The Absence of the Resistant Reading
Chapter 7.6 --- Structured Polysemy in China
Chapter 7.7 --- Invitation from Television Formats
Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- TOWARD CHINESE MODERNITY? --- p.159
Chapter 8.1 --- Four Texts in the Chinese Mediascape
Chapter 8.2 --- Ugly Wudi as a Hegemonic Text
Chapter 8.3 --- Structural Dimensions of Chinese Modernity
Chapter 8.4 --- Discursive Construction of Chinese Modernity
Chapter 8.5 --- TV Industries in China: Development and Future
REFERENCES --- p.178
LISTS OF APPENDICES --- p.204
Chapter Appendix 1 --- Methods Answering Research Questions
Chapter Appendix 2 --- Ethnographic Observation Schedule
Chapter Appendix 3 --- Focus Groups Schedule
Chapter Appendix 4 --- Focus Groups Participants
Chapter Appendix 5 --- Focus Groups Questionnaire
Chapter Appendix 6 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (18 years old and above)
Chapter Appendix 7 --- Outline of Focus Groups Discussion (under 18 years old)
Chapter Appendix 8 --- Interviewees List
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Pola, Lisa. "A Chinese television drama : the "Aspirations" phenomenon." Thesis, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/144196.
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