Theater Performances in a (German) Literature Class: Effective Language Learning through Medieval and Early Modern Plays

Abstract

Language and literature teachers know very well that theatrical performances can successfully contribute to the students’ learning experience. Plays have always offered the opportunity to demonstrate one’s language skills in a quasi-public space and in a practical manner. This paper suggests using pre-modern plays for contemporary purposes, which also allows us to build meaningful and enjoyable bridges to the past as a valuable dialogue partner for us today, as the fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm nicely illustrate. Most of the plays by tenth-century Hrotsvit of Gandersheim have proven to be highly effective in this regard, and this even on contemporary stages. They contain many voices, they are crisp in their structure and development of dramatic roles and shine forth through their ability to evoke diverse interests. Similarly, some plays by Hans Sachs can also be employed for pedagogical and linguistic purposes. Both the early medieval plays and those by Sachs can certainly be identified as entertaining and meaningful in their own terms. Teaching and practicing these texts can serve well for a German language and literature class because they invite students to study pre-modern texts as viable and expressive literary mediums for us today as well. The conclusions of this paper promise to apply to many other language and literature classes because the practical performance by students gets them personally engaged and offers good pedagogical tools to grasp more easily a foreign or a historical text in its timeless relevance.