Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  The "Bloody Australian" on Stage

• Unit Code

  ENG3053

• Year

  2017

• Enrolment Period

  1

• Version

  1

• Credit Points

  15

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

• Unit Coordinator

  Dr Cynthia VANDEN DRIESEN

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Description

This unit explores Australian plays written since the 1960s. Students investigate how these plays have contributed to the development of a national theatre as well as a sense of national identity. In particular, the unit explores texts from the perspective ofpost-colonial theory in relation to settler-cultures.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Discuss the contribution of drama to the evolution of concepts relating to the notion of an Australian identity.
2. Relate the plays studied in this unit to the context of relevant events and issues in Australian cultural history.
3. View and discuss significant Australian plays published in the latter half of the twentieth and the first decade of the twenty-first century with an appreciation of their potential in the theatre.
4. Write effective critical essays which demonstrate a selective use of theoretical approaches and evaluate critical evaluations of dramatic texts.

Unit Content

1. A selection of post 1960s Australian plays.
2. Exploration of the cultural and historical issues associated with the emergence of an identifiable national drama.
3. Reading and analysis of the texts and of their cultural, historical and social contexts using relevant theoretical perspectives.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Lectures, seminars, dramatised readings, workshops.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

Core Reading(s)

• Seymour, A. (1963). 'The one day of the year', in Three Australian plays. Ringwood, Vic: Penguin.
• Hewett, D. (1976). Bon bons and roses for Dolly; and, The Tatty Hollow story: Two plays. Sydney: Currency Press.
• White, P. (1985). Collected plays. Sydney: Currency Press.
• Cleven, V. (2007). Contemporary indigenous plays. Sydney: Currency Press.
• Nowra, L. (1992). Cosi. Sydney: Currency Press in association with Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney.
• Hibberd, J. (1974). Dimboola: A wedding reception play. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
• Lawler, R. (1978). Summer of the seventeenth doll. Sydney: Currency Press.
• Williamson, D. (1978). The Club. Sydney: Currency Press.
• Davis, J. (1996). The dreamers. Sydney: Currency Press.
• De Groen, A. (1993). The girl who saw everything. Paddington, N.S.W: Currency Press.
• Nimmo, H. (1987). The hope. Sydney: Currency Press in association with Playbox Theatre.

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