PERFORM Log
July 1992
[Previous Log] [Next Log]
[Back to Logs Index]
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 1992 00:37:00 CDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MEIHSU@OREAD.CC.UKANS.EDU
Hi,
What was the most common theme (or plot) for medieval performing arts
besides biblical story?
Robinhood, St. George, ......?
Sorry, the question sounds like a Jeopardy question. My purpose is to
find out some themes people in the middle ages liked to listen to or watch.
Regards,
Chin
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1992 12:43:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Rick Jones
Subject: Medieval Performing Arts list
Please enter my subscription to the list.
Rick Jones
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1992 12:01:52 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: acarr@ALLEG.EDU
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
The other significant use of statuary in performance occurs in
connection with the Easter ceremonies of Depositio, Elevatio and
Visitatio Sepulchri. The early practice was to bury a Host and/or a
Cross, but by the 15th century, some rubrics indicate the use of an
"image," which might have been a life-sized effigy of Christ. Pamela
Sheingorn was too modest to mention her book Easter Sepulchre in
England as a major source on this practice. Michael Norton and I are
currently looking at this usage in connection with the liturgy at
Klosterneuburg, which preserves a "Leichnam" from ca. 1500. A
related body of monuments include crucifix corpuses with movable arms
that can be outstretched on the cross or folded down into a burial
position. I just saw a stunning example of one in the Vienna
Diocesan Museum. The main article on this is Taubert,
"Mittelalterliche Kruzifixe mit schwenkbaren Armen, Zeitschrift des
deut. Vereins fur Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1969), listing some 35 extant
examples.
Since this is a current project, (Michael and) I would certainly
appreciate any other examples or primary sources anybody knows about.
Great question, Steve. Greetings, Amelia Carr
P.S. Michael--if you're hooked up here -- this is my OTHER address
at Allegheny, through the NEXT -internet system. I check mail at
both places.
=========================================================================
Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1992 21:11:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
Thanks to Amy and Pam for their useful replies. What about the _iconia_
in the two St. Nicolas plays on this subject? How am I to imagine the
image of the saint to which the miser entrusts his hoard? A
free-standing statue of some sort? A painted panel? Any clues?
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1992 17:18:34 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: From Statues to Giants
I can't answer Steve's question about St. Nicolas' theatrical incarnations
but I thought I'd throw out a general query of a similar nature. I've
always been interested in the representation of giants in medieval drama.
What kinds of performances included giants? How were they made? Just how
tall were they? I've seen giants at local festivals in France (Douai, Lille)
and elsewhere...I wonder if these modern giants are made much differently than
those of 500 years ago?
Were there any friendly giants or were they always the bad guys?
I have been working on the financial records in Dijon which talk of a
representation including two giants and six 'clercs' (the performance was
on the occasion of a ceremonial entry of the Count of Charolai, 1461). What
could this story be about? (There is also reference to the walls of
Jerico, but I believe this was the subject matter for a different
stage--there were seven stages in all.)
Those in attendance at the SITM conference in Girona will recognize that
the performance of 'El Laberint d'Arcadia' (in which a dancing giant was slain
by a young boy) is partially responsible for rekindling my interest in this
question.
Jesse
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 10:44:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: giants
Jesse: Have you thought about looking at representations of Goliath
in medieval plays and processions? There is a brief David and Goliath
episode in the _Vieux Testament_.
There are several references to the role of Goliath in early German
performances:
1. Deventer (1500). Guildsmen and apprentices performed a David and
Goliath play on Shrove Tuesday. They repeated the performance the next
year. No indication of what the giant looked like.
2. The MS. of a David and Goliath play by Vigil Raber survives. Prob.
intended for performance at Bozen in 1515.
3. David and "the giant Goliath" in an Ingolstadt procession play (1507).
4. As you might expect, there is somewhat more information from
Luzern. Earliest mention of "Golias stand" [his _locus_ in the playing
area] dates from the easter performance of 1538. His costume is not
described in the costume list, but his name is entered among warriors
and those whose costumes are described as "gwaltig...harnischt...
kriegerisch," etc. The prop list for 1538 mentions his "stange:
(spear?) and his "kopf." In 1545 the role was played by a certain Gabriel
Fyrabet, who was scheduled to play Goliath again in 1560 but was replaced
by Anthoni Haas. The 1560 production otes describe Goliath as a "Riss"
(giant) and note that he "sol han schilt, stangen, den gmachten kopf"
The artificial head could be huge, I suppose, but more likely it was
for the sake of gruesome special effects during the decapitation scene.
Haas got the part again in 1571.
5. Rheinau, 1573: Corpus Christi procession features Goliath and david
in the 14th position--David to carry a shepherd's staff and sling, G. not
described.
6. A procession in Bergen op Zoom (1533). Goliath described simply as
"der gross man Goliadt."
Maybe pictorial representations of Goliath in MSS. could give
you a clue as to performance practices. Happy hunting.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 12:35:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
I've been following the responses about sculpture in medieval performances
with interest -- now kindled higher by a trip to Trinidad where I
participated in a modern Muslim Muharram festival, commemorating the
death of Husayn, the grandson of Mohammad. In that ritual, an "effigy"
of Husayn and his brother Hasan (so two effigies in all) are "buried"
in replicas of th tombs of the brothers; they are prayed over, and
while in the tome they convey life on the object. The tomb "becomes
alive" with the life of the brothers. Then they are "killed," the
effigies removed, and ultimately the "dead" tombs are pushed out
to sea for burial. Even though these "effigies" are constructed
out of "sacred" dirt, stones, and white linen cloth rather than
being sculpted, I am struck by the similarity in the use of
effigies and wonder how many other rituals use effigies in a
similar manner. Perhaps Pam Sheingorn herself might have some
answers here. I'm working toward a 1994 Conference in which we
will showcase the Trinidad event but with a comparative emphasis
that will focus at least on the Caribbean and be open to some other
instances of religious ritual processions or plays enacted in
the new world, having their origins in European, AFrican, or
Middle eastern ceremonies, processions, dramas, etc. This use
of effigies -- the entombment and, for Christians, the "resurrection,"
which does not take place in the Muharram rite, might provide one
highly interesting area of specific comparison. I will be
eager to see if anyone wants to pick up this thread on the network.
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 12:45:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Subscription list
I am curious to know how many people have subscribed now to PERFORM. The
inquiries I am privileged to read strike me as interesting. And I volunteer
again to enter information or abstracts of papers for those who wish
them if they are forwarded to me. WE can use this to share information
in the interim between newsletters. But I am curious to know how many
of us are not on this list. Can you tell me?
--Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 14:04:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: subscription list
Milla: You can get a list of all subscribers and their e-mail
addresses by sending the following command to the LISTSERV itself
(not to the list):
REVIEW PERFORM
It should come to you as a file. Good luck.
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1992 22:13:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: SAS14@PSUVM.BITNET
Subject: Re: Subscription list
In-Reply-To: MRIGGIO AT TRINCC.BITNET -- Wed, 15 Jul 1992 12:45:00 EST
I believe that if you send the command REVIEW PERFORM to the LISTSERV address
(LISTSERV@IUBVM), you will find in your mailbox a list of all list subscribers.
Steve Schrum
Penn State University, Hazleton
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 11:13:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: acarr@ALLEG.EDU
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
I think you people are just trying to keep the art historians
interested! (It's working).
I imagine the St. Nicholas as an icon. Michael Camille has some
interesting things to say about that in The Gothic Idol. I find it
interesting that although the legend always has the Jew beating the
image, the play refrains (at least the Jeu does). The decorum of
using "real" artworks may demand it, or, perhaps the abusing of
images is so efficacious that it cannot simply be play-acted.
(That's one reason why Gentilitas with her idol in the Play of
Antichrist interested me. Since the idol gets destroyed during the
play, it was probably a "prop." I perceive that there is a
difference between props and use of religious statuary (with a
separate raison d'etre) in drama, although the line is hard to draw.)
Milla Riggio's fascinating account of the effigy in Trinidad takes
us into the realm of burial practices. The first thing I thought of
was Egyptian funerary ritual. The use of effigies was also fairly
well developed in 15th century royal funerals--France springs to
mind. I'm not sure of how burial of Christ relates to the burial of
le roi, but there must be formal similarities. Would the focus of
the conference be to relate modern anthropology to medieval studies?
--Cheers, Amelia Carr
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 11:41:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
This is in response to Amelia Carr: With regard to the effigy in Trinidad.
The "burial" is purely ritualized, of course. The festival commemmorated
the death (and therefore burial) of Hosayn, the grandson of Mohammad. In
the ritual the primary object is a replica of the tomb itself, but the tomb
and the bier (which is used in a similar ritual in Iran) become identified,
so that these "secret" effigies (noone is really supposed to know that they
even exist; they are created in secret late at night out of sacred soil by
one Imam, or "priest", and 4 or 6 other men) are carried in the "hosay" or
tomb throughout the streets before being removed. The removal deadens the
tomb which is then buried at sea, in one version of the ritual. I was
really thinking of some similarities in the use of statuary in the
Christian easter rituals, more than resemblances to actual burials. Since
the ritual has virtually nothing to do with even the historical burial
of Hosayn. It is purely commemorative -- and has its origins in East Indian
Shi`i processions.
As to the conference: we are shaping it now. The primary focus overall will
not be comparative medieval/modern as such, though there will be room for
such comparisons. The primary focus will be the importation into the New
World (particularly the Caribbean) of religious processions, plays, etc.,
from older cultures in Europe, Africa, and Asia. WE will showcase the
Indian/Trinidad event -- by bringing in Hosay builders, drummers, etc.
the etc. includes sessions on the Indian diaspora in the Caribbean as
a background to understanding the continuity and the transformations in
the Indian Shi`i rituals. But we will ask for other festivals, etc.,
and look for comparisons with the medieval rituals out of which some of
these events grow. As it takes shape, I will keep you posted. I am also
looking for suggestions right now when we are in the formative stages of
our planning. I hope to get a grant proposal for NEH Public Humanities
funding ready by October 1. So this is the time! Please let me know
how such a comparative inquiry could be made most interesting and useful
for medievalists -- art historians, drama historians, drama and cultural
critics, folklorists, etc.
--Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 12:20:12 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Re: giants
In-Reply-To: Message of Wed, 15 Jul 1992 10:44:00 EDT from
I'm a little slow, but I wanted to thank Steve for the leads on giants.
I didn't know about some of those. So, I guess no one else can think
of any story lines that involve 6 clerks and 2 giants (I believe they're
Saracens--as many giants are).
Still hunting,
Jesse
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 13:35:59 -0500
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: RES_MNORTON@JMUVAX.BITNET
Subject: Re: Sculpture in medieval performances
Re Amelia Carr's comments on the 'icon' of St. Nicholas:
I'd be interested to know how (or if) this episode is depicted visually. Is
the character depicted a Jew (as in the Fleury story and the life by Wace) or
Barbarus (as in Hilarius and the earlier legends)? I'm working on an article
on this play, and it would be useful to bring in additional parallels.
Also, for anyone: What's the consensus these days on whether the St. Nicholas
plays were actually enacted? If so, where? I will be dealing primarily with
the numerical and rhetorical structure of the 'Iconia'. It's a rather
sophisticated (and highly unusual) example of the union of textual and musical
structures, a union which (at least as I will argue) reveals a theological
intent more profound than the silly episodes depicted there appear to imply.
My own sense (and that of most folks with whom I have discussed this) is that
the 'Iconia' at least is a product of the schools (being deliberately vague here
). I would go further to suggest that the plays of the Fleury collection
derive ultimately from the Anglo-Norman realm.
Any takers?
Mike Norton
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 14:04:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: St. Nicholas plays
Michael Norton's questions about the two versions of the _Iconia_
bring another question to mind. I recall reading an article several
years ago--in the EDAM Newsletter, I think--in which Lynette Muir
reported the discovery of a French manuscript containg vernacular
St. Nicholas plays. Since then I haven't heard a word about it.
Can anyone provide updated news on this discovery? Who, if anyone,
is working on a detailed description/edition of the MS.?
--Steve Wright
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 15:12:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: St. Nicholas plays
Steve:
This is a roundabout way to get personal information to you. So if you want to
send me your own address via this network that would be great. But I though
I'd tell you that Martin Walsh has sent a proposal for translating some
Hans sachs material for the translation series. He is waiting for Martin's
response. You might want to ask about the material. And since this is going
out for distribution to all users of this listservice, perhaps we should ask her
e
if anyone is interested in putting in a translation proposal for the series, eh?
Best,
Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1992 10:04:36 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: acarr@ALLEG.EDU
Subject: Re: St. Nicholas
There's quite a bit about the general iconography of St. Nicholas,
Michael. I'll try to get something to you when we meet in
Collegeville (since I'm driving I can throw stuff in the car.) if
you haven't come up with anything by then. I have no clue about
your specific question. ..."silly" episodes?
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 13:08:00 CST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Rick Jones
Subject: Development of Medieval Theatre
I was just reading mail from another list, and came across a lengthy
message in rather condescending tones from someone who wrote about
how, in essence, "Everybody knows" that medieval theatre developed
from liturgy. I've fallen a little out of touch, but I was under the
impression that there were major problems with this perspective. Is
the liturgy (quem quaeritis, etc.) argument still the prevailing view?
If so, how do we account for Hrotsvitha, whose plays are at least
contemporary with, if not prior to, any
records of the quem quaeritis (surely it can't be the old
"unstageable" argument) or for the fact that many secular medieval
plays antedate the liturgical dramas from which they presumably
developed?
If there are in fact good reasons to uphold the perspective that was
certainly current in my undergraduate days, I'd love to hear them.
But if the liturgy-liturgical drama-secular drama progression is no
longer believed, at least in strict chronological terms, I'd like to
know that, too. I'll be teaching this stuff again in a few months:
I'd like to provide my students with the best information I can. (Of
course, what I've always done in the past is to present both "sides"
and let them make up their own minds, but I confess that my own
distrust of the traditional view makes the comparison seem pretty
one-sided.)
Cheers,
Rick Jones
rjones@cornell-iowa.edu.
=========================================================================
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 17:20:00 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: WRIGHTS@CUA.BITNET
Subject: ACH-ALLC93 Call for papers: cross-posting
From: BITNET%"NEUMAN@GUVAX.BITNET" 29-JUL-1992 16:20:08.60
To: Steve Wright
CC:
Subj: ACH-ALLC93 Call for Papers
Received: From UMDD($MAILER) by CUAVAXA with Jnet id 2484
for WRIGHTS@CUA; Wed, 29 Jul 1992 16:20 EDT
Received: by UMDD (Mailer R2.08 PTF008) id 0604; Wed, 29 Jul 92 16:19:11 EDT
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 16:09:00 EDT
Reply-To: NEUMAN@GUVAX.BITNET
Sender: "REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion"
From: NEUMAN@GUVAX.BITNET
Subject: ACH-ALLC93 Call for Papers
Comments: To: ansax-l@wvnvm.BITNET, bmcr@brynmawr.GEORGETOWN.EDU,
buddhist@jpntohok.BITNET, celtic-l@irlearn.BITNET,
chaucer@unlinfo.uln.edu, chug-l@brownvm.BITNET,
contex-l@uottawa.BITNET, c18-l@psuvm.BITNET,
earlym-l@aearn.BITNET, english@utarlvm1.BITNET,
ficino@utoronto.BITNET, gutnberg@uiucvmd.BITNET,
hebrew-l@uminn1.BITNET, hegel@villvm.BITNET,
history@finhutc.BITNET, humanist@brownvm.BITNET,
libref-l@kentvm.BITNET, linguist@tamvm1.BITNET,
libres@kentvm.BITNET, litera-l@tecmtyvm.BITNET,
literary@ucf1vm.BITNET, medtextl@uiucvmd.BITNET,
milton-l@urvax.BITNET, nt-greek@virginia.edu,
pacs-l@twnmoe10.BITNET, philosop@yorkvm1.BITNET,
pmc-list@ncsuvm.BITNET, reed-l@utoronto.BITNET,
russian@asuacad.BITNET, rustex-l@ubvm.BITNET,
shaksper@utoronto.BITNET, tei-l@uicvm.BITNET,
wmst-l@umdd.BITNET, wwp-l@brownvm.BITNET, ceth@pucc.BITNET
To: Steve Wright
ASSOCIATION FOR COMPUTERS AND THE HUMANITIES
ASSOCIATION FOR LITERARY AND LINGUISTIC COMPUTING
1993 JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ACH-ALLC93
JUNE 16-19, 1993
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, D.C.
CALL FOR PAPERS
This conference -- the major forum for literary, linguistic and
humanities computing-- will highlight the development of new
computing methodologies for research and teaching in the
humanities, the development of significant new networked-based and
computer-based resources for humanities research, and the
application and evaluation of computing techniques in humanities
subjects.
TOPICS: We welcome submissions on topics such as text encoding;
hypertext; text corpora; computational lexicography; statistical
models; syntactic, semantic and other forms of text analysis; also
computer applications in history, philosophy, music and other
humanities disciplines.
In addition, ACH and ALLC extend a special invitation to members of
the library community engaged in creating and cataloguing network-
based resources in the humanities, developing and integrating
databases of texts and images of works central to the humanities,
and refining retrieval techniques for humanities databases.
The deadline for submissions is 1 NOVEMBER 1992.
REQUIREMENTS: Proposals should describe substantial and original
work. Those that concentrate on the development of new computing
methodologies should make clear how the methodologies are applied
to research and/or teaching in the humanities, and should include
some critical assessment of the application of those methodologies
in the humanities. Those that concentrate on a particular
application in the humanities (e.g., a study of the style of an
author) should cite traditional as well as computer-based
approaches to the problem and should include some critical
assessment of the computing methodologies used. All proposals
should include conclusions and references to important sources.
INDIVIDUAL PAPERS: Abstracts of 1500-2000 words should be submitted
for presentations of thirty minutes including questions.
SESSIONS: Proposals for sessions (90 minutes) are also invited.
These should take the form of either:
(a) Three papers. The session organizer should submit a 500-word
statement describing the session topic, include abstracts of
1000-1500 words for each paper, and indicate that each author is
willing to participate in the session; or
(b) A panel of up to 6 speakers. The panel organizer should submit
an abstract of 1500 words describing the panel topic, how it will
be organized, the names of all the speakers, and an indication that
each speaker is willing to participate in the session.
FORMAT OF SUBMISSIONS
Electronic submissions are strongly encouraged. Please pay
particular attention to the format given below. Submissions which
do not conform to this format will be returned to the authors for
reformatting, or may not be considered if they arrive very close to
the deadline.
All submissions should begin with the following information:
TITLE: title of paper
AUTHOR(S): names of authors
AFFILIATION: of author(s)
CONTACT ADDRESS: full postal address
E-MAIL: electronic mail address of main author (for contact),
followed by other authors (if any)
FAX NUMBER: of main author
PHONE NUMBER: of main author
(1) Electronic submissions
These should be plain ASCII text files, not files formatted by a
wordprocessor, and should not contain TAB characters or soft
hyphens. Paragraphs should be separated by blank lines. Headings
and subheadings should be on separate lines and be numbered. Notes,
if needed at all, should take the form of endnotes rather than
footnotes. References, up to six, should be given at the end.
Choose a simple markup scheme for accents and other characters that
cannot be transmitted by electronic mail, and include an
explanation of the markup scheme after the title information and
before the start of the text.
Electronic submissions should be sent to
Neuman@GUVAX.Georgetown.edu
with the subject line " Submission for ACH-ALLC93".
(2) Paper submissions
Submissions should be typed or printed on one side of the paper
only, with ample margins. Six copies should be sent to
ACH-ALLC93 (Paper submission)
Dr. Michael Neuman
Academic Computer Center
238 Reiss Science Building
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C. 20057
DEADLINES
Proposals for papers and sessions November 1, 1992
Notification of acceptance February 1, 1993
Advance registration May 10, 1993
There will be a substantial increase in the registration fee for
registrations received after May 10, 1993.
PUBLICATION
A selection of papers presented at the conference will be published
in the series Research in Humanities Computing edited by Susan
Hockey and Nancy Ide and published by Oxford University Press.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of reviewers who will make
recommendations to the Program Committee comprised of:
Chair: Marianne Gaunt, Rutgers, the State University (ACH)
Thomas Corns, University of Wales, Bangor (ALLC)
Paul Fortier, University of Manitoba (ACH)
Jacqueline Hamesse, Universite Catholique Louvain-la-Neuve
(ALLC)
Susan Hockey, Rutgers and Princeton Universities (ALLC)
Nancy Ide, Vassar College (ACH)
Randall Jones, Brigham Young University (ACH)
Antonio Zampolli, University of Pisa (ALLC)
Local organizer: Michael Neuman, Georgetown University (ACH)
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodations for conference participants are available at several
locations in the Georgetown area:
Georgetown University's Leavey Conference Center
The Georgetown Inn
One Washington Circle Hotel
Georgetown University's Village C Residence Hall
LOCATION
Georgetown, an historic residential district along the Potomac
River, is a six-mile ride by taxi from Washington National Airport.
International flights arrive at Dulles Airport, which offers
regular bus service to the Nation's Capital.
INQUIRIES
Please address all inquiries to:
ACH-ALLC93
Dr. Michael Neuman
Academic Computer Center
238 Reiss Science Building
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C. 20057
Phone: 202-687-6096
FAX: 202-687-6003
Bitnet: Neuman@Guvax
Internet: Neuman@Guvax.Georgetown.edu
Please give your name, full mailing address, telephone and fax numbers,
and e-mail address with any inquiry.
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 03:28:39 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Clifford Flanigan
Subject: RE: Development of Medieval Theatre
Rick Jones' question is so wide in its scope that I find it difficult to
reply in eform. Let me just make a few remarks. Since Hardison's book
more than a quarter of a century ago, everyone has been aware of the
impossibility of maintaining an evolutionary perspective on the questions
of the "origins" and "development" of the "drama." But the truth of the
matter is that this old chestnut keeps getting repeated, even by those who
vilify Chambers and Young. If you doubt that, just look at the language is
any general textbook in theater history or even in the little speciality
literature that exists. The word "development" almost always crops up.
The same is true even for David Bevington's really fine anthology, which is
still the standard textbook for courses in medieval drama in English
departments in North America.
I would suggest that in asking questions about "origins" we are posing not
only unaswerable but useless questions. All of these arguments are based
on some essentialist and ultimately platonic notions about "drama" which
evoke post-medieval notions about this "genre." We need to really get away
from the evolutionary model, not just fix it up a bit, which is, I am
afraid, what Hardison and his followers tried to do. It seems better to
think of a variety of performance practices (the Visitatio Sepulchri,
processions, school exercises, "plays,") which were viewed by their
audiences with different presuppositions, presuppositions which themselves
shifted over a period of time. Thus the same performance might be seen by
some as a "drama" (whatever that is) and by others as a "ritual" (ditto). I
don't feel very comforable plugging my own work, but I have discussed this
problem in an article in the 1984 issue of Comparative Drama (which was
reprinted in the collection of articles on the Fleury Playbook edited by
Tom Campbell and Cliff Davidson). I no longer believe everything that I
claimed there, but I still partially like the way I laid out the problem
conceptually. More recently, however, I have come to think that "drama"
may be a Renaissance invention--certainly Antiquity knew nothing of what we
customarily designate by that term--which we have projected back on a huge
diversity of performance practices of earlier times.
The main point I want to make here is that if we want to present something
useful in the classroom about "early drama," we should ask questions about
specific and localized practices. Among the questions we should ask is
how might different medieval audiences have understood these practices, and
how has our asking these questions been rightfully and unavoidably conditioned
by our place in history. To repeat what is by now a very old chestnut,
claims about the origins of anything are highly deceptive and really tell
us nothing--unless, of course, we give into the omnipresent temptation of
platonizing.
I would love to discuss these issues further.
Clifford Flanigan
Indiana University
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 08:46:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: MRIGGIO@TRINCC.BITNET
Subject: Re: Development of Medieval Theatre
Dear Clifford and all:
Your response to Rick Jones was an excellent one. Indeed, I have been
wrestling with just this question in the introduction to my edition of
Wisdom, in which I finally suggested that the concept of "genre"
itself was a misnomer when applied to "morality plays," that the Macro
plays, for instance, do resemble each other in plot, character type, and
theme, but because they were, it seems obvious, designed for different
theatrical venues and probably different kinds of actors -- The Castle
was probably an extravagent outdoor spectacular; Mankind does seem to
ask for professional playing, certainly a small cast and, because of the
nature of its particular comedy and the lack of elegance in its
costuming and character makeup, probably did not need the same kind of
wealthy patronage that Wisdom requires -- they must be considered as
different generically. That is, I am convinced that audience itself,
at least intended audience, is an important factor in determining genre.
This does not directly bear on Rick's question about development, but the
many forms of development come from so many different directions that the
question is, as Cliff expressed it, either moot or so varied as to require
a very different set of answers.
--Milla Riggio
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 11:55:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: NAOMI LIEBLER
Subject: Re: Development of Medieval Theatre
Dear PERFORMers:
I too liked Rick Jones's provocative question, and Clifford Flanigan's even
more provocative response. Especially the suggestion that "drama" is a
Renaissance term. I suspect that its provenance--and thus the concept of
"drama"--is even later than that. (A quick jog to an OED would clear that up,
but I don't happen to have copy here at home.) Shakespeare, for instance, never
uses the word; my guess is that it did not, as we know it, exist for him. Plays
were called "plays," that is, when they were not called something far less
polite, or they were called by their generic names: comedy, tragedy, tragical
history (see Polonius for further suggestions). Ritual--and rite--are certainly
at the roots of a good deal of theatrical material (how's that for a
hedge-word?), but that in itself does not mean a direct linear evolution out of
liturgy per se. The question is indeed a complex one; it is NOT a matter of
digging up an old conundrum. With intense current interest in social history and
cultural anthroplogy gaining ground with us students of "literature" (and with
the definition of even that term open more and more to question), inquiry into
development of what we now call drama is no longer, it sems to me, a question
about evolution but rather one of archaeology, that is, not linear at all, but
multi-dimensional. So press on!
Boy, am I glad I finally figured out how to access PERFORM!
Naomi C. Liebler
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 13:58:19 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Clifford Flanigan
Subject: Re: Development of Medieval Theatre
Naoimi Liebler does a wonderful job of summing up the problems of the
moment when she says:
"With intense current interest in social history and cultural anthroplogy
gaining ground with us students of "literature" (and with the
definition of even that term open more and more to question), inquiry
into development of what we now call drama is no longer, it sems to me, a
question about evolution but rather one of archaeology, that is, not linear
at all, but multi-dimensional."
I would only add, in response to her remarks earlier in her message, that
the use of specific terms such as "drama" or "ritual," while useful, can
never be determinative. In my own research I once spent lots of time
trying to sort out Latin texts that were called "ludus" from those called
something like "officio." There was some useful information that resulted,
and our adaptation of these terms may further our own interpretive work by
serving as late twentieth-century models. But we can't put too many eggs
in that basket, in seems to me. How do we know what the writers who used
these terms meant by them? What grounds to we have for thinking that their
audiences shared this understanding? How do we know that the same "ludus"
written in the twelfth-century but performed in the fourteenth was
understood in the same way by both audiences? And most importantly of all,
on what grounds can we assert that "ludus" has a permanent meaning, that
the term means the same for us as it did in many different moments of
the past?
These claims lead me again to assert that the quest for the "origins" or
"development" of "drama" is one doomed to failure, just because "drama" is
such a slippery signifier. And besides we already learned in the
seventies, (actually from Nietzche if we medievalist folks would ever read
him) that the quest for "origins" can only lead to an infinite regression.
Accepting this claim does not, in my view, mean we must renounce history.
But it does mean that we need to recognize that history is a hermeneutical
construct motivated by contemporary interests. We need to do history,
then, to overcome essentialist views of a unifying concept of "drama,"
to illuminate a mutiplicity of local performative practices and to enable
us to interpret them in our perspective (which is all we can do anyway). I
think this is what both Milla and Naomi are saying too, to which I add my
loud "Amen."
Clifford Flanigan
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 15:59:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: NAOMI LIEBLER
Subject: Re: Development of Medieval Theatre
Clifford Flanagan's last comment, that "We need to do history,
then, to overcome essentialist views of a unifying concept of "drama,"
to illuminate a mutiplicity of local performative practices and to enable
us to interpret them in our perspective (which is all we can do anyway),"
cannot be sufficiently underscored. This is an area that "Shakespeareans" have
been debating rather hotly for more than a decade, and it seems only logical
that the debate will now extend "back" to encompass medieval theatrical texts
and performances--not quite what Nietzsche meant by "infinite regressions," I
know, but a very useful kind of "regression" towards whatever empirical
materials remain to be discovered (thinking of "texts" in the broadest possible
sense). At the very least, finer awareness and understanding of the social and
political conditions of medieval performances (I say with unashamed
Shakespearean interest) will contribute mightily to the discussion of what
wellsprings sprung Elizabethan theater in all its infinite variety. In the
reverse of that process (by which I mean the possible application of work done
recently on Shakespeare to a call for similar work to be done on medieval
matter, might I suggest a book to read? I have just reviewed
Phyllis Rackin's excellent study of Shakespeare's History plays that has among
its many virtues a clear, comprehensive, candid, and rigorous discussion of the
idea of history, the origins in the late Renaissance of historiography as a
political construct, and all done with a minimum of jargon and a maximum of
clarity. (And no, I am not her agent, and I do not collect 10% of the sales.)
It's just a damn fine book for anyone who wants to begin--or to continue--the
dialogue between history, literature, modern theory and critical practice. Its
full title is STAGES OF HISTORY; SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH CHRONICLES," Cornell U.
P., 1990, available in paper and cloth.
To be continued, I hope.
--Naomi C. Liebler
=========================================================================
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 21:48:39 EDT
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: Jesse Hurlbut
Subject: Archeology...
I'd like to pick up on Naomi's suggestion and probe a little further.
What would be some of the chapter titles in a book on the "Archeology
of Medieval Performance"?
Jesse
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 07:35:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: NAOMI LIEBLER
Subject: RE: Archeology...
In reply to Jesse HUrlbut's questions about component areas of inquiry into an
Archaeology of Medieval Performance," I should think you'd want to consider,
inter alia, folklore, distinctions between oral and written textuality, other
influences besides liturgical ones, the operations of individual and cultural
memory (see work being done by Jack Goody and Ian Watt, especially). In
particular, you'd want to consider--and this is the really tough
part--"non-literary" components or influences. Here is where the work of
cultural historians and anthropologists has much to contribute. If you really
want to "push the envelope," look into modern cultural theory, i.e., Pierre
Bourdieu, Macherey, Foucault. Robert Weimann's SHAKESPEARE AND THE POPULAR
TRADITION IN THE THEATER has become a "standard text" for study of Renaissance
performance, and has a great deal of material on medieval theater to start
with. Milla Riggio's work on the performance conditions of WISDOM should get
another look for its suggestions about "medieval dinner theater" (Milla, did I
get that right?)
The point is that in moving a little bit away from the privilege of the "text"
as a finished product, most espcially in considering that "printing and
publishing" themselves were either new or non-existent, depending on the plays
under study, we are reminded that drama (for lack of abetter term) is a
cultural artifact that not only incorporates but also constructs its producing
culture. It's a Janus thing; it looks backwards, retentive of cultural
phenomena, and forwards, informing the culture that re-produces it, especially
in the cases of reiterative or repetitive performance (i.e., cycle plays)-- any
play that saw more than one performance would fit that category.
I am not nearly as familiar as I should be with the REED documents, but it
seems to me that medievalists have been collecting all the data you need to
start with for years! You've got a real wealth of raw materials that waits to
be applied to the play-texts you've got, and that is where some of the
cultural/historical/anthropological theoretic can offer a perspective and a
methodology that will work well. Theater didn't happen in a vacuum: as a public
forum it is a unique one, since there may be questions about its
"authorization" that move it far from the "legitimacy" of liturgy and
liturgical influence. I assume that Clifford Flanigan had something like that
in mind when he started this whole discussion by inviting a "look at history."
Have a blast!
--Naomi C. Liebler
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 10:49:46 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: REED Project
Subject: Re: Development of Medieval Theatre
In-Reply-To: <92Jul30.151242edt.8557@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>; from "Clifford
Flanigan" at Jul 30, 92 2:58 pm
What Cliff writes about 'ludus' strikes a chord with me!
Wrestling with the various senses of 'ludus'is an on-going part of
my translating and glossing at REED. I think there is a general
interpretative problem because for the most part we try to select the
texts we study by choosing ones in which we can be fairly certain
'ludus' refers to performance. That seems absolutely legitimate to
me but it does contribute to a tendency to forget how broad a
range of meaning the common LUD/LUS root (which we see not only in
'ludus' but also in 'lusus,' 'ludere,' 'ludator,' and other similar
terms) has from the classical period on. Not only does it refer to play
in the dramatic sense, but to the playing of games (especially games
of chance with dice and later cards) and sports, the playing of music
and possibly to vocal music. It was not forgotten either in the
mediaeval period that 'ludus' was a school. In English usage it also
refers to a variety of popular pastimes, such as 'summer games' with
summer kings and queens. It is very hard to see what the common
element, if any, behind such a wide range of root meanings is.
I see two principal dangers of which we should be aware. The context in
which 'ludus' occurs is not always helpful in determining the sense it
bears. Being aware of the wide range of possible meaning can protect
one from reading in to one of these unavoidably ambiguous contexts
a single sense of the word, for example, taking 'ludus' to mean a
play when it may refer to a whole range of activities of which a play
is only one. The second (and related) danger is that of imposing our
own divisions generally on the usage of a foreign language, in this
case Latin. We see a very strong distinction between 'play' and 'game
of chance' or between 'sport' and 'musical performance' but our Latin
speaking writer is able to use a single noun for all four. We should
be wary of drawing anachronistic lines of demarcation. After all,
consider the various senses of the English word 'play'!
Abigail
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 10:52:51 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: REED Project
Subject: RE: Archeology...
In-Reply-To: <92Jul31.091431edt.9171@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>; from "NAOMI
LIEBLER" at Jul 31, 92 8:35 am
A very minor point, but I should point out in reference to Naomi says
about REED that, although most of our volumes contain mediaeval
records, they are rich in records from the sixteenth and early
seventeenth centuries as well.
Abigail
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 14:20:00 EST
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: NAOMI LIEBLER
Subject: RE: Archeology...
MAny thanks indeed to Abigail for both notices. I would like to suggest that
the interpretive crux of the term LUDUS be approached as a goldmine rather than
as a problem. Abigail says, "Not only does it refer to play
in the dramatic sense, but to the playing of games (especially games
of chance with dice and later cards) and sports, the playing of music
and possibly to vocal music. It was not forgotten either in the
mediaeval period that 'ludus' was a school. In English usage it also
refers to a variety of popular pastimes, such as 'summer games' with
summer kings and queens. It is very hard to see what the common
element, if any, behind such a wide range of root meanings is." Not just to
"make a virtue of necessity," the point is that all of these activities--and
perhaps others--implicit in LUDUS are PERFORMANCES. What the single-word tells
us, loud and clear, is that the folks who used the word MEANT all of these
activities, that the activities may not bear such fine and hard distinctions as
we have given them in modern use. This too is part of the project of opening up
the boundary lines of genre distinction and considering the place of theatrical
activity in the life of a community. The various activities Abigail lists had a
great deal in common in the late 16th and early 17th centuries: they were
(except perhaps for "school") condemned as immoral, restricted when not
actually forbidden, and ultimately either disappeared or went "underground" as
subversive activities. We know they continued despite suppression: when
Hamlet complains that "the hobby-horse is forgot," he's re-membering it! And
as Violet Alford's and E.C.Cawte's work on the subject reminds us, Hamlet
wasn't the only one whose reference insists on the survival of a "pastime" and
its figures.
If hard definitions cause headaches for categorizers, perhaps the problem lies
in the drive for categories, not in the application of the term under
consideration.
Cheers!
--Naomi C. Liebler
=========================================================================
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 01:32:16 -0400
Reply-To: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
Sender: PERFORM - Medieval Performing Arts
From: ljcummings@POPPY.UWATERLOO.CA
Subject: Fools & Folly.
Hello all,
Firstly let me say I think this mailing list is a wonderful
idea, (though I'd prefer it as a newsgroup but I'm picky that way)
However, I've a question. I'm a medieval studies Undergrad at
University of toronto. (Home for summer at waterloo). I've
studied history, philosophy, art history, and some medieval literature,
but have *not* studied drama. My primary interest, currently, is
the social or cultural history and symbolic uses of The Fool, and
concepts of Folly and its symbolism. Obviously I've got to start
researching a lot of medieval drama, (I use that term even though
the previous couple postings's comments on it, *smirk*). As I'm sure
most of you would agree, drama is/will be of central importance
to my research.
I have done a fair bit of extensive research through secondary
sources, such as the Studies by Enid Wlesford and Barbara Swain,
specifically on the 'Fool'. but have yet to touch upon *any*
primary sources for myself. It is with this in mind, that I'd
ask the distinguished people of this mailing list for suggestions
about where to start? Should I just grab a medieval Drama
anthology (Like David Bevington's that someone mentioned a couple
messages back) and read through it. Or are there some plays people
would suggest I start with, since they will contain areas that might
be pertinent to my interests etc.
Luckily, where I'm located I've been able to attend several PLS
productions, and attended several plays that were put on at their
Festival earlier this year.
Any suggestions anyone could e-mail me would be wonderful, as
well as any secondary sources or periodicals anyone might have
run across...Frankly it's a big subject and any help or guidance
would be apprieciated.
Many Thanks,
James Cummings
ljcummings@poppy.uwaterloo.ca