Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	LH Theatre, Philosophy and Emotion
School	Eng, Drama, & Creative Studies
Department	Drama and Theatre Arts
Module Code	09 30979
Module Lead	Ellen Redling
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Seminar-20 hours Guided independent study-180 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	This module aims to provide students with an advanced critical understanding of how the study of philosophical texts about concepts of emotion from Antiquity to the present day can lead to an in-depth analysis of plays and performances that work with emotion and affect. The engagement with philosophical theory and theatre is aimed at leading to a creative ‘dialogue’ between theory and text/performance rather than just at an application of a certain theory to a text/performance. Emotion is a key concept in theatre throughout the ages – not only because many plays contain topics linked to strong emotions, such as love, jealousy, revenge, death, murder, crisis, war. Emotion as an effect on the viewer and as a means of ‘accessing’ a play can also be regarded as a strategy of creating ‘meaning’ – and might test the boundaries and limitations of verbal communication. The cognitive turn and the affective turn have shed new light on emotion and affect, even sometimes focusing on theories looking at the combined effects of thought and emotion on the viewer. Furthermore, recent developments in technology allow for the creation of innovative types of performances that appeal to different types of senses (not just the visual one), thereby perhaps finding new ways of tapping into – and promoting – emotional knowledge. The module will incorporate plays and performances such as Sophocles’ Philoctetes, Seneca’s Thyestes, Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Mankind, examples of Japanese Noh theatre, Lillo’s The London Merchant, Lessing’s Miss Sara Sampson, Douglas Jerrold’s Black Ey’d Susan, George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession and works by Mark Ravenhill, Sarah Kane, Ontroerend Goed and Complicité – with a view to examining them ‘in dialogue’ with philosophical works written by e.g.: Aristotle, Plato, Shaftesbury, Lessing, Schiller, Artaud, Jaspers. We will discuss both the strategies of expressing and (potentially) controlling emotion in plays and performances. Regarding non-European plays and performances, the module also aims to consider the influence of e.g. Zen Buddhism. Finally, in the context of very recent plays and performances, we will also take into account new developments in the field of cognitive and affect theories.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: critically analyse how philosophy has always been in ‘dialogue’ with theatre and to creatively make use of these connections in order to attain an in-depth understanding of plays and performances, which might in turn inform the students’ own practical work demonstrate skills relevant to the critical study of theatre, philosophy and emotion – such as improved close reading skills, dealing with complex theories and arriving at a better understanding of ‘emotional’ as well as ‘cognitive knowledge’ in relation to theatre. apply diverse research methodologies to the analysis of selected case studies in their specific historical, medial and generic contexts
Assessment	30979-03 : Presentation : Coursework (50%) 30979-05 : Essay : Coursework (50%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 25% presentation (approx. 5-mins per student, depending on group size) 75% essay (3000 words) Reassessment: Failed component only Group or solo presentation (approx. 5 mins per student depending on group size), which may be submitted as a recording 25% 3,000 word essay (75%)
Other
Reading List