Unit information: Theatre and Revolution in 2021/22

Unit name	Theatre and Revolution
Unit code	FREN30124
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Clare Siviter
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of French
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

Revolution, Theatre, and the Public Sphere, 1789-1799 traces how the French who experienced the Revolution engaged with political debates through the largest entertainment forum of the period: theatre. This Unit will be focused around five main texts listed below (all available online) by a variety of authors with different political standpoints. We will investigate the different political sides and tides of the Revolution; the responses of audiences and the government; the themes of censorship and propaganda; how Revolutionary playwrights broke their inherited dramatic moulds; how they wrote for the newly liberated people; the impact of the freedom of expression as it was granted and then repressed; and how playwrights and actors subverted governmental control, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a body of work performed during the Revolution and the evolution of these works over the course of time.
• To develop the students’ synthesis, analysis, and research abilities to a level suitable for final year undergraduates and in preparation for postgraduate study.
• To train students on using archival resources and developing methodologies such as performance as research, alongside their engagement with twentieth and twenty-first-century theoretical models.
• To nuance the students’ approach to the political and theatrical history of the Revolution and the differences between Paris and the provinces.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit the student will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a high level of knowledge of the theatre of the second half of the eighteenth century;
2. Analyse a range of primary materials in both written and oral formats, and as appropriate to level H;
3. Evaluate those materials within the context of relevant critical scholarship;
4. Formulate an independent research project which sets a scholarly agenda.

Teaching Information

1 x fortnightly lecture

3 seminar hours every 2 weeks

Students will also make use of digital humanities databases (notably cfregisters.com) and online libraries (especially Gallica).

Assessment Information

1 x 15-minute oral presentation assessing ILOs 1, 3 and 4 (25%)

1 x 3,000 word essay assessing ILOs 1-3 (75%)

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. FREN30124).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.