Macbeth in European Culture, International Symposium
University of Murcia (Spain)
22-24th March, 2022

Despite its Scottish-Anglo setting and its close relationship to the politics of the Stuart regency, Macbeth has proven one of Shakespeare’s most suggestive plays for practitioners and artists working far beyond its original Anglophone context. The play’s potential for violence, its exploration of hierarchy and power, its conflicting gender dynamics and its supernatural dimensions are just some of the elements that have been appropriated on stages around Europe. They have also prompted the transformation of the play into different shapes, formats and media, and so this symposium intends to inspect the multiple afterlives of Macbeth beyond its initial historical and cultural resonances. We are looking for innovative work that approaches the play from regional, national, continental and intercontinental angles as we try to chart Macbeth’s reception in or in relation to Europe from the seventeenth century to the present. Among other possibilities, we invite discussions concerning the relocation of the play’s ideological, gender/sexuality, regional/ethnic/racial/religious boundaries within specific historical and theoretical contexts. Contributions on any of the following are welcome:

— Macbeth in European theatrical, operatic, cinematic, televisual or online performance;
— Different European versions (adaptations, rewritings, appropriations, updates) of Macbeth;
— Translations of Macbeth into non-Anglophone European languages: the importance and impact of those translations in their target cultures and in intercultural contexts;
— Reception of Anglophone Macbeth in non-Anglophone contexts, or the reception of non-Anglophone Macbeth in Anglophone contexts;
— Traveling Macbeth: international tours of the play, intercultural performances of the play;
— Macbeth in European visual cultures: from illustration to audiovisual art;
— Macbeth in European digital cultures;
— Theoretical reflections on Macbeth as a case study of ‘European Shakespeare’ and or versus ‘global Shakespeare’.

We particularly favor contributions which relate interventions (artistic or otherwise) to broader regional, national, transnational, continental or intercontintental concerns and to the history of Shakespeare’s reception in these contexts. A 250-300 word abstract and a brief bio should be sent to Juan F. Cerdá (juanfcerda@um.es) and Paul Prescott (pprescott@ucmerced.edu) by December 3rd, 2021.

The symposium will be held at the La Merced Campus of the University of Murcia (Spain), yet online participation will be available for those facing traveling restrictions.