Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
MA - Master of Arts
Department
Expressive Therapies
Advisor
Laura Wood, Ph.D., LMHC, LCAT, RDT-BCT
Abstract
Language in and of the theatre, with its palate of variegated writing styles and playwrights from throughout time, has the potential to be harnessed, focused, and systematized for use as a therapeutic tool within drama therapy – the field’s artistic medium. Drama therapy could benefit from having a specific medium germane to its artform which has the potential to provide practitioners with a common resource and means of communication, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, as well as align the field with other creative arts therapies. Language encompasses all forms of human communication – speaking, writing, signing, gesturing, expressing facially – and voice and speech training are crucial components of holistic training for actors. This thesis positions language as the primary medium of the theatre by examining multiple and disputed theories of theatre origins as well as interrelated theories of the theatre as an entity in order to distinguish drama as an evolutionary means of human communication. Furthermore, it probes the basic clinical foundations of speech-language pathology, which possesses a wealth of research and theory already supporting language assessment and treatment, in addition to basic biology and neuroanatomy surrounding speech, speech production, and development in order to ground the argument in pre-existing medical and clinical knowledge. Herein, I propose future directions and lay the groundwork for continued research and structured theory development.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Freeman, Edward, "Language as the Medium: A Literature Review. Harnessing the Prolific Power of Dramatic Language as a Therapeutic Tool in Drama Therapy" (2021). Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses. 445.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/expressive_theses/445
Included in
Acting Commons, Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, Art Therapy Commons, Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Clinical Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Cultural History Commons, Dance Movement Therapy Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Discourse and Text Linguistics Commons, Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory Commons, Epistemology Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Multicultural Psychology Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Other Mental and Social Health Commons, Performance Studies Commons, Philosophy of Language Commons, Phonetics and Phonology Commons, Playwriting Commons, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons, Semantics and Pragmatics Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Social History Commons, Speech Pathology and Audiology Commons, Syntax Commons, Theatre History Commons, Theory and Philosophy Commons
Rights
The author owns the copyright to this work.
