2001 Conference (May 27-29)

Vancouver, B.C. Canada

  AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR CYBERNETICS
 
Mary-Ellen Perley

Drama and Literary Interpretation:
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Praxis

 



 


 
ABSTRACT:
 
 

My research explores the application of a procedure for oral communication proposed by D. Davidson to Secondary English literature instruction. Participants begin with prior theories of understanding and engage in a continuing adjustment that leads to a passing theory if they access a shared domain of understanding. I applied this procedure to the teaching of literature, suggesting if we wanted to really engage students in literature we needed to set up the opportunity in the class to access the world of the literature, the author, the students' individual understanding and a shared world of experience. In this way, students move beyond a Reader's Response to a deeper understanding of the literature - an understanding which is be internal and visceral and thus long lasting. To do this requires the use of multiple sign systems provided through the use of drama strategies. In this way the students can access the shared world and the world of the text and create a 'text' through the drama.

My research demonstrates how meaning making is enhanced and enriched in an experiential environment. This presentation outlines how process drama can be used as an instructional methodology for English literature. Not only does this approach demonstrate a concrete method to facilitate the representational strand of the Western Canadian Protocol for the four Western Provinces and two Territories (1996), it also exemplifies the concept of praxis in this interdisciplinary context.

 



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