course-details-portlet

MUSV3144

Women, opera and feminist musicology

Choose study year

Lessons are not given in the academic year 2026/2027

Credits 7.5

Level Second degree level

Language of instruction English

Location Trondheim

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.