Folklore and Folklife - Courses - Fall 2004 - FOLK 103 401 Performing History

For more information about Folklore and Folklife,at UPenn, contact Professor Dan Ben-Amos at dbamos@sas.upenn.edu.

For assistance with the Folklore and Folklife website, contact Linda Lee at lindalee@sas.upenn.edu.

FOLK 103 401 Performing History

R. St. George
Lecture: Tuesday Thursday 1:30-3:00
Distribution III: Arts and Letters
Cross-listed: COML 103 HIST 093 THAR 103
Contact: stgeorge@sas.upenn.edu

From medieval processions to the Mummer's Parade from military reenactments to Mardi Gras communities do more than "write" or "read" history in order to feel its power and shape their futures. Drawing upon traditions in theater spectacle religion and marketing they also perform their history-by replaying particular characters restaging pivotal events and sometimes even changing their outcomes--in order to test its relevance to contemporary life and to both mark and contest ritual points in the annual cycle. This course will explore diverse ways of "performing history" in different cultures including royal passages civic parades historical reenactments community festivals and film.

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