CLTR3516/AR35P:Performing Culture: Dancehall as Ritual and Spectacle

Lecturer: Dr. Donna Hope Marquis
Pre-Requisite: CLTR 1001/CLTR2501
Semester: 2
Credits: 3
Level: 3

The course introduces students to select facets of dancehall culture: street and other performances, rituals and celebrations, the spectacle of fashion and masquerade, and the video-light. It analyses how these features can be understood within and beyond their everyday contextual framings and explores what they tell us about the community and society in which they take place.  Theories from performance studies, cultural studies, and anthropology will be used to analyze dancehall culture’s rituals and spectacle.  Particular attention will be paid to the ways in which agency is created by actors from socio-cultural spaces of power from below.

Evaluation

Coursework: 40% (Tutorial Presentation 10%;  Essay – 30% )
Exam:  60%