finding the theory in the issue
Blaze writes how he wants to do his doco on the Chinese Theatre Group, but as yet he has not yet found how he would theorise the issue he wants to explore.
If you find a nice strong issue, which includes a little drama or controversy, I promise that there will exist a theory which impacts upon your issue! People write theories about controversial issues, not about boring things.
Blaze says he will explore what is the CTG’s sense of community. Perhaps, if a theatre group can be seen as a community? Some of the theoretical issues that could be explored include:
- What is community? (It seems that Blaze is going to have to answer this if he wants to work out whether the CTG is one)
- Then according to the definition of community that he proposes, several theoretical issues might arise:
- Is the community very homogenous? If so, does this make is weaker or stronger?
- Does the community set up strong borders (who is in it, who is outside it)?
- How does the community deal with bad behaviour?
- What threats to the continual existence of the community exist?
- Does the community have clear leaders? (is it hierarchical or democratic?)
These are some of the theoretical issues we have touched on or will touch on soon. There is both drama and theory inherent in these sorts of questions.
Dear Blaze, I like the construction of your questions and how they clearly relate to the Theory component of this class and to the development of your documentary. Your concept and process appear to be well intergrated and I think that is a successful strategy for creating an interesting work.
Comment by Rusalka Johnston — March 25, 2009 @ 4:18 pm