1st Edition

The Dramatic Arts and Cultural Studies Educating against the Grain

By Kathleen S. Berry Copyright 2000
    202 Pages
    by Routledge

    202 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book presents a wide range of contemporary theories borrowed from Cultural Studies augmented with practical implications that support dramatic artists in their struggle to create possible multiple realities for a postmodern future. Teachers, directors, writers, students, and many others involved in the dramatic arts will benefit from the discussions of Cultural Studies and the connections to the Dramatic Arts. The first chapters mix theory and practice while the last chapter provides questioning strategies and conventions that can be used in actual sessions to deconstruct scripted or improvised dramatic texts. This is a useful introductory text for artists, directors, teachers, students, and others involved in the Dramatic Arts who would like to energize their work through contemporary theories and practices of Cultural Studies.

    Preface by Shirley Steinberg, Acknowledgments, Introduction by Dorothy Heathcote, 1. A Modern World in Crisis, 2. Cultural Studies through Theater, 3. Major Tenets of Cultural Studies, 4. Deconstruction of Cultural Constructions, 5. Hegemonic Resonances, 6. Acting against the Grain, Bibliography, Index, About the Author

    Biography

    Kathleen S. Berry is a Professor of Education in Cultural Studies, Drama and Literacy at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. Her work is centered on educational worlds and the impact of cultural studies and criticism on theories and practices in pedagogy, drama, and multi-literacies.

    "Teachers and teachers-to-be who are concerned with educational change through the arts will be strengthened by the support in theory and pratice the author offers in this excellent resource." -- Professor David Booth, OISE, University of Toronto
    "In her book, Kathy Berry has begun to rethink the role of dramatic arts and its place in the curriculum. She begins with samples of authentic classroom experiences, and interweaves the theory past and present that now drives drama educators into moving beyond what has been done to a postmodern context of what could be done. Teachers and teachers-to-be who are concerned with educational change through the arts will be strengthened by the support in theory and practice the author offers in this excellent resource." -- Professor David Booth, OISE, University of Toronto