The MFA Program for Writers Director, Dr. Rita Banerjee will be a Visiting Writer in the undergraduate Creative Writing program at Warren Wilson College and will be teaching the creative writing workshop “Narrative Forms from World Literature: Kishōtenketsu and Rasa Theory” on Tuesday, October 17 from 12-1 pm EDT. The workshop’s open to anyone on campus and more details follow below as does information about Dr. Banerjee’s reading on campus on the evening of October 17 from 7-8 pm EDT:
Warren Wilson’s Department of Creative Writing presents
A Reading with Visiting Writer Dr. Rita Banerjee
October 17, 7-8 pm at the Library Loft
Here are the workshop details:
Narrative Forms from World Literature: Kishōtenketsu and Rasa Theory
A Craft Workshop with Dr. Rita Banerjee
October 17, 12-1 pm at the Morris Pavilion
In contemporary American creative writing, theatre, and screenwriting classes, the narrative structures and forms most centered are derived from the Western literary canon. Aristotle’s definition of comedy, tragedy, and catharsis from the Poetics and Gustav Freytag’s “plot triangle” from Die Technik des Dramas are seen as the conventional and standard way by which we analyze and structure storytelling. However, in our workshop on Narrative Forms from World Literature, we will study and learn from narrative structures, forms, aesthetic theories, and storytelling techniques from a variety of world literatures. We will delve into storytelling forms beyond the plot triangle and will highlight Nonwestern narrative techniques like the kishōtenketsu narrative form from Japanese. This workshop will also discuss rasa theory, which centers nine major emotional states to make the connection between viewer and character stronger. Rasa theory derives from Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra, which acts as a counterpoint to Aristotle’s demarcation of tragedy and comedy from the Poetics. By studying Narrative Forms from World Literature, students will diversify and strengthen their craft knowledge and technique, and will gain access to storytelling structures, forms, and aesthetic traditions beyond the Anglo-American canon.
Rita Banerjee 