Course - Women, opera and feminist musicology - MUSV3144
Women, opera and feminist musicology
New from the academic year 2025/2026
About
About the course
Course content
Women, both as dying heroines and living divas, have been central to opera’s history and criticism since its beginnings in the early 1600s. Despite this centrality, however, feminist perspectives on opera - that is, perspectives that analysed and challenged ideas about gender, sexuality, love, family and authority upon which opera relied and helped perpetuate - did not emerge until the late 1980s. This course will introduce students to key feminist (and non-feminist) opera criticism while focusing on operatic portraits of women in operas by both male and female composers and from different periods and traditions. The course will engage students with the cultural interpretation of opera, exploring the genesis, source models and influences of selected operas, negotiating the role of contemporary notions of gender, sexuality and role in society, in constructing images of feminine sensuality, power and vulnerability on the operatic stage. The course will also consider the performers and the performative acts that have brought these women to stage life, observing how opera has lent women opportunities for agency and self-representation.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3144
- Has knowledge of key texts in gender studies in musicology and feminist opera criticism.
- Has critical understanding of opera as a medium of contemporary views about women and their role in society.
- Has a broad understanding of the dramaturgy, conventions and development of opera of different periods and traditions.
- Has critical understanding of the role of culture in shaping musical meaning and practices in relation to opera.
Skills
An examinee with a completed qualification in MUSV3144
- Has the ability to analyse operatic texts critically.
- Has the ability to present knowledge, findings and critical insight in a coherent and convincing form both orally and in written form.
- Has well-developed oral and written skills of argument and debate.
- Can apply acquired knowledge and understanding in their own work.
Learning methods and activities
Weekly instruction varies between lecture and seminar activities.
Compulsory assignments
- Attendance at lectures and seminars (at least 80%)
Further on evaluation
The school exam is linked to preparatory work done during the course.
If the course is not passed, the student must retake the whole assessment. It is not required to take the compulsory activities again when attempting the exam again.
Specific conditions
Admission to a programme of study is required:
Applied Theatre and Dramaturgy (MDT)
Comparative Literature (MALIT)
Creative Music Technology (MMUST)
Drama and Theatre (BDRAMA)
English (BENG)
English (MENG)
Music Performance (MMUSP)
Music Performance Studies (BMUSP)
Music Performance Studies - Jazz (BMUSK)
Music Technology (BMUST)
Musicology (BMUSV)
Musicology (MMUSV)
Scandinavian Studies and Comparative Literature (BNORDLIT) - some programmes
Recommended previous knowledge
General knowledge of opera as a genre and of opera history.
Subject areas
- Gender Research
- Music History
- Cultural History
- Comparative Literature
- Drama, Film and Theatre Studies
- Drama and Theatre Studies
- History
- Musicology
- Music Performance Studies
- Theatre Studies