MHST 260 - Desire and the Diva

FC CNDP

4 credits
How is desire musically performed? This course investigates divas–objects, generators, and personifications of musical desire–as performers, cultural products, and artists. We will examine the rise of the diva from the 18th century to the present through operas, films, and popular music. Investigating how the diva inhabits desire will allow us to discuss interdisciplinary issues including sexuality, gender, exoticism, and colonialism within dramatic forms. Of particular interest will be the intersection of the diva with performativity, including how divas use desire to create and/or radically reinterpret how a creator envisioned a character through the force of their own personality.

Prerequisites: ESOL 130 (for students in ESOL sequence).