Daily Archives: 29 April 2014

The Early Drama at Oxford (EDOX) Project: Two Positions – Call For Applications

Professor Elisabeth Dutton invites applications for the following two positions at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, to work on the Early Drama at Oxford (EDOX) project: for more information about this project see: http://edox.org.uk

The successful candidates will between them be expected to contribute to EDOX’s work of researching, translating, staging, editing, and creating online films and editions of plays originally written and performed in Oxford in the late-medieval and early modern periods.

The posts will be based at the University of Fribourg and will include research time in Oxford. (The salaries will be on the highly competitive Swiss academic scale). The doctoral assistant will be expected to write a doctoral thesis on some aspect of Early Drama at Oxford during the appointment.

For the doctoral assistant position, candidates must have an MA degree or equivalent in either medieval or early modern English, or Classics

For the post-doctoral position, candidates must have

  1. a completed and awarded doctorate in medieval /early modern literature
  2. an excellent research profile in some aspect of early theatre

For both positions, the following are also desirable:

  • experience in administration and conference organization
  • expertise in web page design and/or text encoding
  • experience in archival research
  • practical experience in theatre and/or film
  • excellent Latin

Although the English domain functions in English, a level of French and/or German which would facilitate communication with other domains might be an advantage (it is not essential, however).

Applications should include a CV, and a covering letter explaining interest in the positions, and should clearly indicate to which post they relate.

Please send applications by email to Prof. Elisabeth Dutton: elisabeth.dutton@unifr.ch

APPLICATION DEADLINE: May 10 2014

Local and Global Myths in Shakespearean Performance – Call For Papers

Local and Global Myths in Shakespearean Performance

Co-edited by:

  • Aneta Mancewicz (Senior Lecturer in Theatre, University of Bedfordshire, UK)
  • Alexa Huang (Professor of English, George Washington University, USA)

Heiner Müller observed that in Hamlet “The invasion of the times into the play constitutes myth” (“Shakespeare a Difference”, trans. Carl Weber, p. 120). Over the centuries, intrusions of history have invested Hamlet and other Shakespeare’s plays with a mythical status on stages in Europe and beyond. Shakespeare has been used to construct the sense of nationhood, to voice political anxieties, and to address social tensions. The mythical position of Shakespeare’s plays has encouraged the perpetuation of set images, ideas, and values originating in the works themselves but also reflecting the times and cultures, into which they have been appropriated. As Müller explained, “Myth is an aggregate, a machine to which always new and different machines can be connected” (p. 120). Having achieved a mythical status, Shakespeare’s plays have continued to generate myths that contribute to the development of contemporary performance and culture.

The topic encourages both case studies of performances of myths rooted in local contexts, as well as investigations of the global nature of Shakespeare’s myths. We welcome articles that critically examine specific productions or engage more broadly with global and local myths in Shakespearean performance. The following questions provide possible points of departure for the discussion in the essays:

  • What myths have been generated locally and globally around Shakespearean performance?
  • Can we trace common patterns across different regions of the world, comparing, for example, European, Asian or American myths generated by the intrusion of history into the staging of Shakespeare?
  • Do myths help us to comprehend the world and communicate with audiences across cultures, or do they impose patterns of interpretation onto Shakespeare’s plays and our experience of history?

Please contact Aneta Mancewicz if you are interested in submitting an article. Please submit your article of 6000 words with a short bio. of 150 words by October 1, 2014 to aneta.mancewicz@beds.ac.uk