Daily Archives: 29 September 2014

ANZAMEMS Conference Panel: Representations of Masculinity Within the Medieval and Early Modern Period – Call For Papers

As a reaction to the implicit masculine gendering of history and literature up until the latter part of the twentieth century, gender-based studies of the medieval and early modern period have tended to focus on representations of femininity at the expense of masculinity. While this approach has been invaluable in exposing the way in which women have been marginalised and effaced across time, it risks obscuring some elements of both the constructed nature of masculinity and of historical representations of masculine/feminine binaries.

This panel seeks to explore the possibilities offered by an explicitly gendered focus on representations of masculinity within the medieval and early modern period. The panel will convene at the ANZAMEMS Tenth Biennial Conference at the University of Queensland on the 14–18 July, 2015: http://anzamems.org/?page_id=7.

Possible topics for papers include but are not limited to:

  • Masculinity and labour
  • Masculinity and race
  • Masculinity and violence
  • Masculinity and physiology
  • Masculinity and domesticity
  • Masculinity and honour
  • Masculinity and sexuality
  • Masculinity and kingship

If you would like to contribute a paper to this panel, please send a 250 word abstract for a 20 minute paper together a brief biography to deborah.seiler@research.uwa.edu.au by the 23 October, 2014. Please put ‘Masculinities Panel’ in the subject line.

Professor Graham Holderness – Early Modern Literature Forum Public Lecture

“Early Modern Literature Forum: The Arab Shakespeare Trilogy”, Professor Graham Holderness (University of Hertfordshire)
Date: Tuesday, 7 October 2014
Time: 4:00pm
Venue: Room 202A, Learning & Innovation Building, University of Queensland

This year will see the publication by Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama of Sulayman Al-Bassam’s The Arab Shakespeare Trilogy, which presents English-language versions of his three Shakespeare adaptations: The Al-Hamlet Summit (Hamlet), An Arab Tragedy (Richard III) and The Speaker’s Progress (Twelfth Night). Graham Holderness reviews the trilogy as a whole, considering the plays as political theatre, ‘arabized’ drama and globalized culture. Of interest to all those concerned with Shakespeare, transnational culture and relations between the West and the Middle East.

Graham Holderness has taught at the universities of Oxford, Swansea, Roehampton and Hertfordshire. Most of his 40 published books focus on Shakespeare, with particular interests in Shakespeare’s history plays, Shakespeare and the media, Shakespeare editing, Shakespeare and contemporary culture and transnational Shakespeare. Recent publications include Shakespeare in Venice (2009) and the innovative new biography Nine Lives of William Shakespeare (Bloomsbury, 2011). Influential publications include: D.H. Lawrence: History, Ideology and Fiction (1982); The Shakespeare Myth (1988); Shakespeare: The Histories (2000); and the trilogy Cultural Shakespeare: Essays in the Shakespeare Myth (2001), Visual Shakespeare: Essays in Film and Television (2002), and Textual Shakespeare: Writing and the Word (2003). Graham Holderness is also a novelist, poet and dramatist. His novel The Prince of Denmark was published in 2001; his poetry collection Craeft received a Poetry Book Society award in 2002; and his play Wholly Writ was recently performed at Shakespeare’s Globe, and by Royal Shakespeare Company actors in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Early Modern Literature Forum is an opportunity for those working on English and European literature and drama, 1500-1800 (or in related fields, such as history, philosophy, music, or the history of art) to share research and engage in discussion about texts and issues of common interest. Regular fortnightly meetings will take place on Fridays at 4:00pm in Room 202A of the Learning and Innovation Building on the UQ St Lucia campus. For further information contact Ross Knecht (r.knecht@uq.edu.au) or Brandon Chua (b.chua@uq.edu.au).