2023/24 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue
PECI5217M Popular Performance: from music hall to variety television
30 creditsClass Size: 45
Module manager: Dr Philip Kiszely
Email: P.Kiszely@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2023/24
This module is not approved as an Elective
Module summary
This module explores popular performance on stage and small screen, mapping individual areas (stand-up comedy, drag, dance, sketches, satire, circus acts, etc.) against the broader sweep of long 20th century cultural change. It utilizes a set of theoretical frameworks and historiographical approaches to critique production and consumption in a variety of national and international contexts. Central to the enquiry will be the demise of popular theatre and the emergence of television as a dominant force in entertainment. The module will consider how, during the period of transition and beyond, live ‘musical hall’ re-invented itself as small screen ‘variety’.Objectives
On completion of the module, students should be able to critically analyse the development of popular entertainment during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.The objectives of the module are to:
• Understand popular entertainment in the theoretical terms of class, ethnicity, gender and sexuality
• Display an understanding of the role of multiple performance/entertainment media in terms of technological development and audience reception
• Consider broad themes of social and cultural change through an historiographical engagement with:
o artist biographies and audience demographics
o performance profiles and surviving performance materials/archival footage
o publicity intertexts and contemporaneous commentaries and reviews
• Understand ethical implications of historical research
• Formulate and articulate research in written and verbal formats
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Display a broadened knowledge of late 19th – early 20th century national and international popular performance activity applied through a defined contextual lens
2. Apply appropriate historical, analytical, critical and comparative methodologies for the articulation and development of specific arguments
3. Utilize appropriate theoretical concepts for use as interpretive tools
4. Define interdisciplinary approaches to performativity, including performance studies and television studies
5. Demonstrate advanced research skills, including the ability to gather, sift, synthesise and organise material, and independently and critically evaluate its significance.
Syllabus
Students will be presented with a range of case studies covering historically-specific aspects of popular performance. These interactive lecture-seminars will also deal with live performance and television broadcast, comparatively and on their own terms.
Case studies might include:
Contexts 1: Socio-cultural – national and global narratives
Place: The Musical hall and audience interaction
Contexts 2: Society and entertainment technologies – development and change
Medium: Television broadcast and Reception
Entertainments: staples – jokes, stories and songs; novelties – skills and repetition
Performers: Diversity and sameness
Audiences: Regional and class identities
Teaching methods
Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
Seminar | 10 | 2.00 | 20.00 |
Tutorial | 1 | 0.30 | 0.30 |
Private study hours | 279.70 | ||
Total Contact hours | 20.30 | ||
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300.00 |
Private study
Reading and literature search (197.40 hours)Preparation for tutorial (2 hours)
Preparation of first assessment (30 hours)
Writing and preparation of second assessment (50 hours)
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
• 1-1 tutorial• Week-by-week seminar-based interaction
• Feedback on draft proposal for group presentation
• Feedback on individual essay development
Methods of assessment
Coursework
Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
Essay or Dissertation | 3,500- 4,000 words | 65.00 |
Group Project | 15-20 minute Lecture Demonstration / performative presentation (format and content to be negotiated) | 35.00 |
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100.00 |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 28/04/2023 14:43:35
Browse Other Catalogues
- Undergraduate module catalogue
- Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
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- Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue
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