Melissa: Overview of Classes

What looked to be a simple assignment—read a packet and answer seven questions—turned out to be an extremely lengthy and complex undertaking. Each question had multiple sub questions and the words “analyze,” “compare,” “evaluate,” and “discuss” abounded. After working on this assignment off and on for the past several days, I submitted the final paper this morning in my History 244: South Africa -Colonization and the Rearrangement of Societies class. It was seven pages and 2200 words long! (It should be noted that the research paper I am required to complete within the next month is only 4000 words.) The class is enjoyable, despite the heavy workload. Taught by an American who likes to discuss Obama and They Would Be Giants songs (Istanbul, Not Constantinople…), the class is conducted completely in English. Initially I was going to take a different history class, but after the lecturer taught primarily in Afrikaans I found my current class a pleasant alternative. We are presently focusing on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its debilitating effects on African development. Yesterday we attempted to answer the question: Did racism ‘cause’ or ‘result from’ the Atlantic Slave Trade? In other words, were blacks enslaved because they were seen as inferior, or are blacks seen as inferior because of a history of enslavement? Interesting arguments can be made for both sides. Similar to most undergraduate classes, this course has three lectures a week, as well as an additional tutorial taught by a graduate student. It is during these tutorials that assignments are collected and tests written. It is also a time for discussion and questions on the assigned additional readings.

I am also enrolled in Theatre 178: History of Western Theatre. We will study theatre and theatre conventions of Western drama by examining key texts (Major Barbara, Mother Courage and Her Children, Medea, etc). At the moment the class is examining Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Professor Hees, who regularly reminds me of Bill Morgan, also teaches primarily in English. His favorite phrase, heard numerous times in each lecture, is “The text is not the play.” He also tends to answer questions about his lectures with “Did I say that? Well, I’m glad—that’s precisely what I meant.” There is to be an essay in this class as well, though Professor Hees told us not to worry about it yet--“I’m sure I’ll tell you about it sometime before it’s due!” The professor of my 178 tutorial is equally amusing, performing large sections of A Doll’s House in an outrageous melodramatic style. I will never be able to read the alternate ending to the play without the memory of Schalkw running around the room as he played both Nora and Torvald, as well as read stage directions aloud in a voice worthy of movie trailer voiceovers. As an added bonus to the amusement this class provides, though only a first year class at the University of Stellenbosch, this class will transfer back to Missouri State as a 500-level course!

Professor Hees is going to take over my other theatre history class, Theatre 354: History of South African Theatre, after next week. At the moment Professor Hauptenfleish is presenting an overview of South African theatre forms, genres, productions, actors, purposes, and so on. The material is fascinating, but the lecturer regularly lapses into Afrikaans and I miss information, only picking up a date or a name now and again. Though I may have lost a few facts along the way, after beginning with the indigenous forms of drama, we have made our way through time to the current discussion of how theatre was affected by apartheid. By the 1970s, new laws extended to theatrical activities and racially integrated casts and audiences were effectively illegal, although some innovative individuals managed to get around these limitations. Playwright Athol Fugard began a members-only “club” that only happened to consistently present contemporary plays that commented on apartheid, performed by multi-racial casts to multi-racial audiences, while British Donald Howarth wrote Othello Slegs Blankes (Othello Only Whites) for South Africa. Othello, being a black man, could not be portrayed on stage alongside white Desdemona, so Howath made a statement by simply writing him out! After Professor Hauptenfleish concludes his history lectures next week, Professor Hees will begin a study of significant texts from South African history. The reading list includes Ubu and the Truth Commission, Saturday Night at the Palace, The Island and Die Jogger, which I have yet to find an English translation of.

In Theatre 178: Acting, I am performing a scene from Mourning Becomes Electra by Eugene O’Neill. The play is based on Aeschylus’s The Oresteia trilogy and involves the Oedipus Complex, the Electra Complex and Freudian psychology. Fun, I know. In the scene, Lavinia Mannon (myself) confronts her mother, Christine (my partner Estelle), about her adultery. The scene is one long power struggle, with each character strategizing on how best to get the upper hand. In a recent tutorial, Professor Du Preez compared it to a chess game between two masters: all action is strategic and precise, any weakness is preyed upon by the other. In pure Naturalistic style, at one part in the scene my character seemingly absentmindedly fiddles with a chess set laid out on the table. Though presented as an idle gesture, the symbolism is really quite unmistakable. While rehearsing the scene today, Estelle and I both got goose bumps as the mutual hatred between our characters fueled exciting, organic acting discoveries; we’ve decided it’s our goal to make everyone in the audience shift in their chairs on seeing the distorted relationship between mother and child.

My final class is Afrikaans, a night class on Mondays and Wednesdays. After spending several days discussing how the class will learn this semester, we have finally begun to learn the actual language. We’ve covered pleasantries, colors, pronouns, articles of clothing and various other words. Josh (Jaco) and Drew (Gert) are in the class with me (Treintjie Taalyart). Though the boys are always the first to volunteer, I have not become comfortable speaking aloud in Afrikaans. While I’m doing better comprehending written and spoken Afrikaans, verbal communication is challenging. Most of my difficulties will likely solve themselves when I get over my self-consciousness and become more willing to make mistakes. Though the classroom environment is very relaxed, in typical perfectionist style I concentrate too much and think too hard, ending up making more mistakes than I would if I just lightened up. I’m far more eager to practice my Afrikaans when I am out of the classroom and around other Afrikaans speakers. I’ve begun saying simple sentences in Afrikaans to my mainstream theatre friends and then learning how to pronounce everything correctly! Today I learned the very important pronunciation of ‘hoor,’ which means ‘hear.’ A small vowel modification or slurring of the word can easily turn ‘hear’ into ‘whore,’ so you must be careful!

Though I have more work than other international students who are not taking mainstream courses, and though I will actually have to take finals, I am pleased with my decision to take the classes I have chosen. Not only do I get to learn side-by-side with South African students, but I also will have the satisfaction in succeeding in difficult courses, some of which are taught in another language!