Dance Books

Book SynopsisThe stately bedhaya dances of the Central Javanese courts represent an ancient tradition of the House of Mataram. As they were considered an heirloom of Javanese royalty, the esoteric songs and choreographies accompanied by special gamelan music have almost fallen into oblivion. The present discussion on their form and content provides important information on the development of the Performing Arts in Java. It aims at preserving this beautiful tradition for future generations.Trade Review'...it will be treated as equal to the most important studies of dance in general and will become a standard reference work for Javanese dance.' Rüdiger Schumacher, Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 149. 'The scope is very comprehensive...this excellent book is recommended for those libraries supporting programs specific to the study of Indonesian performing arts.' A.G. Kaplan, Choice, 1992. 'I can strongly recommend this book to those who are interested in the analysis of dance as a means of communication by text, context, music, dance formations and dance movements.' Wim van Zanten, Odion, 14.

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Book SynopsisWhat happens, when dance and literature meet; when movement is integrated into the literary world or even replaces verbal communication? This study explores dance in British literature from Shakespeare to Yeats, and illustrates the many ways in which these two forms of artistic expression can enter into various kinds of intermedial encounters and cultural alliances.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. THEORY: Mediality and Literalised Dance 2.1. Definition of Medium 2.2. Literature as Medium 2.2.1. A Semiotic Perspective on Literature 2.2.2. From a Semiotic to a Cultural Perspective on Literature 2.3. Dance as Medium . 2.3.1. General Statements 2.3.2. A Semiotic Perspective on Dance 2.3.2.1. Movement 2.3.2.2. Time 2.3.2.3. Space 2.3.3. From a Semiotic through a Cultural to an Intermedial Perspective on Dance 2.3.3.1. Dance Genres as Markers of Class, National Identity, and Gender 2.3.3.2. The Body and Signification . 3. TYPOLOGY: Literalised Dance as Intermedial Encounter 3.1. Intermediality as a Concept 3.2. Toward a Typology of Literalised Dance 3.2.1. A Semiotic Approach 3.2.1.1. Extra-compositional Intermediality 3.2.1.2. Intra-compositional Intermediality 3.2.2. A Cultural Approach 3.2.2.1. Literalised Dance as a Platform for Cultural Discourse . 3.2.2.2. Representations of Dance Culture in Poetry and Caricature 4. CASE STUDIES: Literalised Dance in British Drama 4.1. Dance in British Drama from the Renaissance to the 18th Century 4.1.1. Plurimediality in Renaissance Masques— Dance as Allegory of Order: Jonson’s Hymenaei and Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Jonson’s Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue, Milton’s Comus 4.1.2. Intermedial Reference and Cultural Ridicule in Restoration and 18th Century Comedy: Wycherley’s The Gentleman Dancing Master, Sheridan’s The Rivals 4.2. Dance in British Drama of the 19th Century 4.2.1. Popular Literature and the Waltz 4.2.1.1. The Waltz: A Public Scandal and its Poetic Representations 4.2.1.2. The Waltz in 19th Century ‘Illegitimate’ Drama 4.2.2. Elitist Drama and Modern Dance 4.2.2.1. Presence through Absence: Oscar Wilde’s Salome 4.2.2.2. The Revolution of Modernism: Yeats and Modern Dance 5. Conclusion Works Cited List of Illustrations Index

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Book SynopsisIn The Encoded Cirebon Mask: Materiality, Flow, and Meaning along Java’s Islamic Northwest Coast, Laurie Margot Ross situates masks and masked dancing in the Cirebon region of Java (Indonesia) as an original expression of Islam. This is a different view from that of many scholars, who argue that canonical prohibitions on fashioning idols and imagery prove that masks are mere relics of indigenous beliefs that Muslim travelers could not eradicate. Making use of archives, oral histories, and the performing objects themselves, Ross traces the mask’s trajectory from a popular entertainment in Cirebon—once a portal of global exchange—to a stimulus for establishing a deeper connection to God in late colonial Java, and eventual links to nationalism in post-independence Indonesia.Trade Review"This is a rare case of a scholar taking seriously the Islamic religious sentiments that underlie a local Southeast Asian artistic tradition." - Shahzad Bashir, Lysbeth Warren Anderson Professor in Islamic Studies, Stanford "A mountain of fascinating information." – Benedict Anderson, Aaron L. Binenkorb Late Professor Emeritus of Government and International Studies, Cornell UniversityTable of ContentsFigures, Drawings, Map Introduction Part I: Cultural Markers Chapter 1: The Pasisir in the Age of Steam, Sail, and the Railway Chapter 2: Independence: Registration Cards, Theme Parks, and Topeng Tours Chapter 3: Floating Artists on the Circumambulatory Road Part II: Mystic Travelers Chapter 4: Tuning the Body: Dzikir Flows and Sonic Theism Chapter 5: Engaging the Body and the Senses Part III: Objects that Speak Chapter 6: Looking Closely: The Iconic Mask Chapter 7: Looking Closer: The Inner Face Chapter 8: Mapping Tarekat: Performing the Mosque/Grave Complex Conclusion Appendix I: The Topeng Cosmology Appendix II: Fitting Susuk Glossary Works Consulted

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Book SynopsisFootprints of the Dance — An Early Seventeenth-Century Dance Master’s Notebook by Jennifer Nevile provides new, fascinating and detailed information on the life of an early-seventeenth-century dance master in Brussels. The dance master’s handwritten notebook contains unique material: a canon of dance figures and instructions for an exhibition with a pike; as well as signatures and general descriptions of his students, ballet plots and music associated with dancing. Reproduced for the first time are facsimile images of all the dance-related material, with transcriptions and translations of the ballet plots and instructions for the pike exhibition. The dance master is revealed as an active choreographer and performer, with strong ties to the French court musical establishment, and interested in fireworks and alchemy.Trade Review"The book's greatest value lies in making the notebook’s rare resources available to scholars of early modern dance and to historians of staged spectacles. The translation into English of the ballet plots and of the pike exhibition (in this latter case undertaken by Margaret McGowan) will also allow undergraduate students interested in the themes covered by the book to have access to valuable new primary material." Carolyn James, Monash University, in Parergon 38.1 “Theatrical entertainments loomed large in the early modern period, literally and figuratively. In addition to illuminating the inner workings of a dance school, Jennifer Nevile’s Footprints of the Dance takes us several steps closer to understanding Renaissance spectacles and increasing our knowledge and appreciation of those who designed and developed them.” Emily F. Winerock, University of Pittsburgh. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 4 (Winter 2019), pp. 1535–1536 “In her newest book, musicologist and dance historian Jennifer Neville has made a substantial contribution to our knowledge of early seventeenth-century dance and its social and political importance in the towns and cities of Western Europe. […] Neville’s opening his notebook to us is a gift to dance research.” Judith Rock, in: Journal of Jesuit Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (March 2019), pp. 183–186. “Footprints of the Dance is a valuable addition to dance studies, extending our understanding of the professional life of a dancing master, the choreographic activities of the time and the interaction of dance with other cultural elements such as pyrotechnics, health and travel. The analysis and contextualisation draw on extensive understanding of early modern dance and the culture of Brussels. Through it, readers will derive an excellent understanding of this special manuscript.” Anne Daye, in: Historical Dance, Vol. 4 ,No. 4 (January 2021).Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Tables, Illustrations and Musical Examples A Note on Transcriptions and Translations Introduction 1 A Dance Master’s Notebook 2 Dance in Early Modern Europe 3 Ballet Plots, Dance Figures and Fireworks 4 Dance Teaching, Schools and Pupils 5 Danced Combat and the Pike Exhibition 6 Dance Music, Dance Songs and Airs de Cour Conclusion Facsimile of Dance-Related Material from S 253 Appendix 1: Transcription and Translation of the Six Ballet Plots Appendix 2: The Pike Exhibition (ff. 94r–99v) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe relationship between religion and dance is as old as humankind. Contemporary methods for studying this relationship date back a century. The difference between these two time frames is significant: scholars are still developing theories and methods capable of illuminating this vast history that take account of their limited place within it. A History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance takes on a primary challenge of doing so: overcoming a conceptual dichotomy between “religion” and “dance” forged in the colonial era that justified western Christian hostility towards dance traditions across six continents over six centuries. Beginning with its enlightenment roots, LaMothe narrates a selective history of this dichotomy, revealing its ongoing work in separating dance studies from religious studies. Turning to the Bushmen of the African Kalahari, LaMothe introduces an ecokinetic approach that provides scholars with conceptual resources for mapping the generative interdependence of phenomena that appear as “dance” and/or “religion.”Trade Review"Through her interdisciplinary approach, LaMothe opens the field in manifold directions. Her work stimulates a need for more research on the complex relationship between dance and religion." Tatjana K. Schnütgen, University of Regensburg, Reading Religion, May 2019.Table of ContentsA History of Theory and Method in the Study of Religion and Dance Past, Present, and Future  Kimerer L. LaMothe  Abstract  Keywords  1 Where and How to Begin?  2 Defining Religion, Excluding Dance: A Prehistory of the Study of Religion  3 Founding a Field: Max Müller and Lilly Grove  4 Cracks in the Case for Colonialism  5 Dancing into the Future: Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis  6 The Bible Says Do It: W.O.E. Oesterley and the Task for Christian Theology  7 Better Together: Émile Durkheim and the Sociology of Religion  8 Religion and/or/is/not Dance: Gerardus van der Leeuw and The Phenomenology of Religion  9 Branching and Crossing 1: Religious Studies and Dance Studies  10 Branching and Crossing 2: Art Dance and Sacred Dance  11 An Ecokinetic Approach: Learning from the Bushmen of the African Kalahari  12 Shaking for God: The Bodily Act of Becoming Human  Coda. Moving On: A Call for More  References

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Book SynopsisThe contributors to this volume share the assumption that popular narrative, when viewed with an evolutionary lens, offers an incisive index into human nature. In theory, narrative art could take a near infinity of possible forms. In actual practice, however, particular motifs, plot patterns, stereotypical figures, and artistic devices persistently resurface, indicating specific predilections frequently at odds with our actual living conditions. Our studies explore various media and genres to gauge the impact of our evolutionary inheritance, in interdependence with the respective cultural environments, on our aesthetic appreciation. As they suggest, research into mass culture is not only indispensable for evolutionary criticism but may also contribute to our understanding of prehistoric selection pressures that still influence modern preferences in popular narrative. Contributions by David Andrews, James Carney, Mathias Clasen, Brett Cooke, Tamás Dávid-Barrett, Tom Dolack, Kathryn Duncan, Isabel Behncke Izquierdo, Joe Keener, Alex C. Parrish, Todd K. Platts, Anna Rotkirch, Judith P. Saunders, Michelle Scalise Sugiyama, Dirk Vanderbeke, and Sophia Wege.Trade Review"[…] this edited volume is an excellent addition to the study of popular culture, introducing a wider variety of narrative to the Darwinian approach. […] It is encouraging to see such a broad range of narrative included, especially some of those often aimed at a young audience, such as graphic novels and Harry Potter. As someone who has dabbled in this area myself and advocated for the study of popular culture as artifacts of human nature, I highly recommend Evolution and Popular Narrative to anyone interested in the application of evolution to the arts or the study of popular culture in general." -Catherine Salmon, in Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2020, pp. 141-143Table of ContentsList of Figures Introduction Brett Cooke and Dirk Vanderbeke 1 Evolution and Slasher Films Mathias Clasen and Todd K. Platts 2 Remaking, or Not, the Classics: Straw Dogs and Biocultural Stability in Rape-Revenge Movies David Andrews 3 Imagining the End of the World: a Biocultural Analysis of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Mathias Clasen 4 On Love and Marriage in Popular Genres Dirk Vanderbeke 5 Social Network Complexity in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Tamás Dávid-Barrett, James Carney, Anna Rotkirch, Isabel Behncke Izquierdo 6 Banal Classicism and Borrowed Ethos in the Rhetorics of Human and Nonhuman Animals Alex C. Parrish 7 The Reader Is Always Right. Biopoetic and Cognitive-Aesthetic Aspects of Karl May’s Adventure Novel Winnetou I Sophia Wege 8 Why We Read Detective Fiction: Theory of Mind in Action Judith P. Saunders 9 Handel, Senesino, and Giulio Cesare, or the Irreversible Decline of Opera Seria Brett Cooke 10 We’ve Evolved into the Gutters: Using Cognition and a Graphic Novel to Kill Shakespeare Joe Keener 11 Theory of Mind and Mind Eating: the Popular Appeal of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Kathryn Duncan 12 The Relevance of Popularity: Ecological Factors at Play in Story Pervasiveness Michelle Scalise Sugiyama 13 A Quantitative Approach to Counterintuitive Imagery in the Hebrew Bible and the Harry Potter Novels Tom Dolack Index

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Book SynopsisA Companion to Music at the Habsburgs Courts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, edited by Andrew H. Weaver, is the first in-depth survey of Habsburg musical patronage over a broad timeframe. Bringing together existing research and drawing upon primary sources, the authors, all established experts, provide overviews of the musical institutions, the functions of music, the styles and genres cultivated, and the historical, political, and cultural contexts for music at the Habsburg courts. The wide geographical scope includes the imperial courts in Vienna and Prague, the royal court in Madrid, the archducal courts in Graz and Innsbruck, and others. This broad view of Habsburg musical activities affirms the dynasty’s unique position in the cultural life of early modern Europe. Contributors are Lawrence Bennett, Charles E. Brewer, Drew Edward Davies, Paula Sutter Fichtner, Alexander J. Fisher, Christine Getz, Beth L. Glixon, Jeffrey Kurtzman, Virginia Christy Lamothe, Honey Meconi, Sara Pecknold, Jonas Pfohl, Pablo L. Rodríguez, Steven Saunders, Herbert Seifert, Louise K. Stein, and Andrew H. Weaver.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Tables List of Music Examples Manuscript Sigla and Other Abbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction  Andrew H. Weaver  1 Politics, Religion, and Music at the Early Modern Habsburg Courts: Some Context  Paula Sutter Fichtner with Andrew H. Weaver Part 1: Institutional Contexts  2 The Court Chapels of the Habsburg-Burgundian Line: From Emperor Maximilian I to Emperor Charles V  Honey Meconi  3 The Court Chapels of the Spanish Line: From King Philip II to King Charles II  Pablo L. Rodríguez  4 The Court Chapels of the Austrian Line (I): From Emperor Ferdinand I to Emperor Matthias  Jonas Pfohl  5 The Court Chapels of the Austrian Line (II): From Archduke Charles II to Emperor Leopold I  Lawrence Bennett, Steven Saunders, and Andrew H. Weaver  6 The Court Chapels of the Tyrolean Line: From Archduke Ferdinand II to Archduke Ferdinand Charles  Sara Pecknold Part 2: Cultural Contexts  7 Italian Musical Dramatic Genres at the Courts of the Austrian Habsburgs  Herbert Seifert  8 Festivity and Spectacle at the Spanish Royal Court  Louise K. Stein  9 Contexts for and Functions of Instrumental Music in Central Europe  Charles E. Brewer  10 Manuscript Culture: The Habsburg-Burgundian Scriptorium and Some Successors  Honey Meconi  11 Print Culture: Printed Music and Other Media in the Service of the Habsburgs  Andrew H. Weaver  12 Colonialism and Music in Habsburg New Spain  Drew Edward Davies Part 3: International Contexts  13 Die Teutsche Nation: Musical Links between the Habsburg Courts and the German States of the Empire  Alexander J. Fisher  14 Milan: Imperial City and ‘Theatre of the World’  Christine Getz  15 Musical Connections between the Austrian Habsburgs and Venice in the Late Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries  Beth L. Glixon, Jeffrey Kurtzman, and Steven Saunders  16 A Tale of Two entrate:Processions, Politics, and Patronage for the Habsburgs in Sixteenth – and Seventeenth-Century Rome  Virginia Christy Lamothe Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is Dance? What is Theatre? What is the boundary between enacting a character and narrating a story? When does movement become tinted with meaning? And when does beauty shine alone as if with no object? These universal aesthetic questions find a theoretically vibrant and historically informed set of replies in the oeuvre of the eleventh-century Kashmirian author Abhinavagupta. The present book offers the first critical edition, translation, and study of a crucial and lesser known passage of his commentary on the Nāṭyaśāstra, the seminal work of Sanskrit dramaturgy. The nature of dramatic acting and the mimetic power of dance, emotions, and beauty all play a role in Abhinavagupta’s thorough investigation of performance aesthetics, now presented to the modern reader.Table of ContentsPreface 0 Introduction  0.1 A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Indian Aesthetics  0.2 Recovering Dance through Texts: A Note on Method 1 Nāṭyaśāstra and Abhinavabhāratī: Trends and Open Questions  1.1 Editorial History and Textual Reception  1.2 Archiving Performance: Texts and Images  1.3 The Nāṭyaśāstra and the Place of Dance in It  1.4 The Abhinavabhāratī: A Medieval Document on Performance Part 1 Practice and Aesthetics of Indian Dance 2 Formalizing Dance, Codifying Performance  2.1 Nāṭya, nṛtta, and nṛtya between Movement and Mimesis  2.2 Dance as Technique: aṅgahāra, karaṇa, recaka  2.3 Between Gender and Genre: tāṇḍava, sukumāra, lāsya  2.4 Expanding the Idea of nṛtta  2.5 Tradition, Creativity, and Artistry: A Śaiva Perspective 3 The Aesthetics of Dance  3.1 Dance within Theatre, Dance without Theatre  3.2 Enacting Emotions: A vademecum for the Actor  3.3 Communication without Words  3.4 Dance, Beauty, and the Fabrication of Dramatic Fiction  3.5 Reshaping the Idea of abhinaya in Dance Part 2 Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Abhinavabhāratī ad Nāṭyaśāstra 4.261cd–269ab 4 Introduction to the Edition  4.1 General Remarks on the Transmission of the Abhinavabhāratī  4.2 Genealogy of the Present Text: The Sources  4.3 A Note on the Sanskrit Text and Translation  4.4 Symbols and Abbreviations in the Apparatus Analysis of ABh ad NŚ 4.261cd–269ab Edition and Translation: Abhinavabhāratī ad Nāṭyaśāstra 4.261cd–269ab Appendix: Kāvyānuśāsana of Hemacandra (pp. 445–449) Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDieses Buch deckt die Hauptgründe für die auffallende Prominenz des Chortanzes in Platons Nomoi auf und bietet eine innovative Deutung der komplexen Komposition des Dialogs. This book uncovers the principal reasons for the striking prominence of choral dance in Plato’s Laws and offers a highly innovative account of the dialogue’s complex composition.Table of ContentsVorwort 1 Einleitung  1 Eine tanzende Stadt  2 Zum Stand der Forschung  3 Vorhaben 2 Prooimion  1 Grundzüge der Nomoi  2 Die Sprache des Ungefähren: Einige Bemerkungen zum Stil Erster Teil: Moralpsychologie 3 Die Marionette im Rausch  1 Einleitung  2 Die These  3 Krieg und Frieden: Der Kontext in Nomoi 1  4 Die Marionette als Projektionsfläche der umgekehrten Analogie 4 Mäßigung (σωφροσύνη): Eine uneinheitliche Konzeption?  1 Einleitung  2 Mäßigung als bürgerliche Tugend  3 Mäßigung in Nomoi 3–5  4 Appendix. Πᾶσα ἀρετή: Die übrigen Tugenden ἀνδρεία, φρόνησις, δικαιοσύνη 5 Scham (αἰδώς und αἰσχύνη): Eine göttliche Furcht  1 Einleitung  2 Scham als moralische Emotion  3 Die Drei Chöre des zweiten Buchs I: Scham, Mäßigung und Lebenszeit Zweiter Teil: Chortanz (χορεία) 6 Das Verhältnis von Nomoi 2 und 7: Ein ungelöstes Problem  1 Einleitung  2 Das zweite Buch: Eine ‚Abschweifung‘ im Gespräch?  3 Das siebte Buch: Eine ‚Ergänzung‘ zum zweiten?  4 Die Drei Chöre des zweiten Buchs II: Ein Fest für Dionysos 7 Ebenen der Mimesis: Tanz und Gemeinschaft  1 Einleitung  2 Mimesis und Tanz  3 Die Drei Chöre des zweiten Buches III: Mimesis und Gesellschaft 8 Tanz mit den Göttern: Religion und Kult in den Nomoi  1 Einleitung  2 Elemente der Polis-Religion  3 Die schönste und beste Tragödie  4 Eine schlechte Allseele? 9 Schlusswort Bibliographie  Ausgaben, Übersetzungen und Kommentare  Hilfsmittel  Kritische Literatur

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Book SynopsisThis publication brings together current scholarship that focuses on the significance of performing arts heritage of royal courts in Southeast Asia. Royal courts have long been sites for the creation, exchange, maintenance, and development of myriad forms of performing arts and other distinctive cultural expressions. The first volume, Pusaka as Documented Heritage, consists of historical case studies, contexts and developments of royal court traditions, particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Table of ContentsPreface List of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Contributors 1 Appurtenances to Power: Performing Arts and the Royal Courts of Southeast Asia  Lawrence N. Ross 2 Space, Performance and Cultural Connections in Early Modern Southeast Asia  Barbara Watson Andaya 3 The Role of the Elite in the Circulation of Culture in Southeast Asia  Leonard Y. Andaya 4 Istana, Desa, Tariqah: Inter-court Relations of Zapin in the Malay Sultanates of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula  Mohd Anis Md Nor 5 I Madé Lebah, Legong and the Performing Arts in the Balinese Court of Peliatan  David Harnish 6 Wayang Jawa (Wayang Kulit Melayu): A Shadow Play Devised by and for the Royalty of the Malay Sultanates of Kedah and Kelantan, Malaysia  Patricia Matusky 7 The Nobat: From Muslim Antiquity to Malay Modernity  Raja Iskandar Bin Raja Halid 8 Lanna Court Music and Performing Arts in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries  Thitipol Kanteewong 9 Inter-court Relations in the Spread of Nobat and Gamelan as Legitimacy Symbols in the Malay World (c. Thirteenth to Twentieth Centuries)  Margaret Kartomi 10 Bele Bele Bejale: Exploring the Role of the Royal Courts of Kelantan, Riau-Lingga and Serdang on the Circulation and Transformation of Mak Yong in the Nusantara  Patricia Ann Hardwick 11 The Sultan of Lingga’s Brass Band: Music, Politics and Memory in the Riau-Lingga Sultanate  Anthea Skinner 13 Music and Dance at the Royal Courts of Cambodia  Sam-Ang Sam Glossary of Non-English Terms Index

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Book SynopsisThe manuscript from the thirteenth century deals with musicians’ behaviour at the court; singers'qualities; the eminence of music and its effect on people and animals; the importance of drinking when listening to music; the process of composition; rhythmic and melodic modes, and repertoire in Andalusia, the Maghreb, Persia and the Middle East; Andalusian song lyrics and the appearance of new poetic forms such as the zajal and the muwashshaḥ; Andalusian musical instruments; dances of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, India and China; Andalusian dances and shadow plays and shadow dancers; aesthetics of dance; poems describing the dances.

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Book SynopsisThe final volume of the New Perspectives in Edward Albee Studies series expands the analyses of Edward Albee’s theatre beyond Anglophone countries. Ranging from academic essays, performance reviews, and interviews, the selected contributions examine different socio-political contexts, cultural dynamics, linguistic communities, and aesthetic traditions, from the 1960s to our contemporary days. Albee Abroad gladly brings together varied voices from Czech Republic, People’s Republic of China, Brazil, Iran, Germany, Spain, and Greece, thus enriching Albee scholarship with more plural tones.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors Introduction  Michael Y. Bennett 1 A Constant Struggle for Freedom: Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic  Tomáš Kacer 2 I’m Not There: Toward Albee’s Reception in China  Eddie Hanchen Feng 3 A Volcanic Contribution: The Zoo Story and the 1960s Brazilian Stages  Esther Santana 4 Edward Albee on Iranian Stages: A Critical Ethnography  Mohammadali (Al) Dabiri and Deniz Khateri 5 American Absurdism as Philosophy: Edward Albee in Germany  Philipp Reisner 6 The Communication Paradigm in Recent German Albee Scholarship: A Review Essay  Philipp Reisner 7 Edward Albee’s 21st Century Spanish Canon: Bringing It Up to Speed or Honoring the Tradition?  Ramón Espejo Romero 8 Albee’s Greek Legacy in The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?  Antonia Tsamouris 9 Interview: Philip Arnoult on Albee’s International Leadership  Natka Bianchini Index

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Book SynopsisNational identity is not some naturally given or metaphysically sanctioned racial or territorial essence that only needs to be conceptualised or spelt out in discursive texts; it emerges from, takes shape in, and is constantly defined and redefined in individual and collective performances. It is in performances—ranging from the scenarios of everyday interactions to ‘cultural performances’ such as pageants, festivals, political manifestations or sports, to the artistic performances of music, dance, theatre, literature, the visual and culinary arts and more recent media—that cultural identity and a sense of nationhood are fashioned. National identity is not an essence one is born with but something acquired in and through performances. Particularly important here are intercultural performances and transactions, and that not only in a colonial and postcolonial dimension, where such performative aspects have already been considered, but also in inner-European transactions. ‘Englishness’ or ‘Britishness’ and Italianità, the subject of this anthology, are staged both within each culture and, more importantly, in joint performances of difference across cultural borders. Performing difference highlights differences that ‘make a difference’; it ‘draws a line’ between self and other—boundary lines that are, however, constantly being redrawn and renegotiated, and remain instable and shifting.Table of ContentsManfred PFISTER: Introduction: Performing National Identity 1. Early Modern Literary Exchanges Werner VON KOPPENFELS: ‘Stripping up his sleeves like some juggler’: Giordano Bruno in England, or, The Philosopher as Stylistic Mountebank Ralf HERTEL: ‘Mine Italian brain ’gan in your duller Britain operate most vilely’: Cymbeline and the Deconstruction of Anglo-Italian Differences 2. Italian and English Art in Dialogue John PEACOCK: Inigo Jones and the Reform of Italian Art Alison YARRINGTON: ‘Made in Italy’: Sculpture and the Staging of National Identities at the International Exhibition of 1862 3. Travelling Images Barbara SCHAFF: Italianised Byron – Byronised Italy Fabienne MOINE: Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Italian Poetry: Constructing National Identity and Shaping the Poetic Self Stephen GUNDLE: The ‘Bella Italiana’ and the ‘English Rose’: Reflections on Two National Typologies of Feminine Beauty 4. Political Negotiations Pamela NEVILLE-SINGTON: Sex, Lies, and Celluloid: That Hamilton Woman and British Attitudes towards the Italians from the Risorgimento to the Second World War Peter VASSALLO: Italian Culture versus British Pragmatics: The Maltese Scenario David FORGACS: Gramsci’s Notion of the ‘Popular’ in Italy and Britain: A Tale of Two Cultures 179 Carla DENTE: Personal Memory / Cultural Memory: Identity and Difference in Scottish-Italian Migrant Theatre 5. Contemporary Mediations Claudio VISENTIN: The Theatre of the World: British-Italian Identities on the Tourism Stage Judith MUNAT: Bias and Stereotypes in the Media: The Performance of British and Italian National Identities Sara SONCINI: Re-locating Shakespeare: Cultural Negotiations in Italian Dubbed Versions of Romeo and Juliet Mariangela TEMPERA: Something to Declare: Italian Avengers and British Culture in La ragazza con la pistola and Appuntamento a Liverpool Anthony KING: English Fans and Italian Football: Towards a Transnational Relationship Greg WALKER: Selling England (and Italy) by the Pound: Performing National Identity in the First Phase of Progressive Rock: Jethro Tull, King Crimson, and PFM Gisela ECKER: Zuppa Ingleseand Eating up Italy: Intercultural Feasts and Fantasies Notes on Contributors

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Book SynopsisPlaying Culture represents one of the corner stones in the model of the Theatrical Event, as developed by the Working Group of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR). In this volume, thirteen scholars contribute to illuminate the significance and possibilities of playing within the framework of theatrical events. Playing is understood as an essential part of theatrical communication, from acting on stage to events far from theatre buildings. The playfulness characterizing academic traditions sets the tone in the introduction, illustrating the four sections of the book: Theories, Expansions, Politics and Conventions. The theoretical chapters depart from the classical Homo Ludens and offer a number of new perspectives on what play and playing implies in today’s mediatized culture. The contributions to the second section on extensions, deal with playing in non-theatrical circumstances such as market places, passports and stock holders’ meetings. The third section on the politics of playing focuses on wood-chopping women, saints and youngsters in South African townships – all demonstrating their social and political ambitions and purposes. The last section returns to the stage on which performers intend to represent, respectively, themselves, Bunraku puppets or the audience. Playing appears in many forms and in many places and constitutes a basic principle of theatre and performance. This book touches upon important theoretical implications of playing and offers a wide range of historical and contemporary examples. Playing Culture – Conventions and Extensions of Performance is the third book of the IFTR Working Group on The Theatrical Event. The first volume, entitled Theatrical Events – Borders Dynamics Frames was published in 2004, followed by Festivalising! Theatrical Events, Politics and Culture in 2007. The present volume continues to expand the vision of the Theatrical Event as a theory and model for the study of playing, theatre, performance and mediated events.Table of ContentsWillmar Sauter: Playing Culture – an Introduction Part One: Theories Shulamith Lev-Aladgem: Playing Culture: The Return of/to the Homo Ludens Andreas Kotte: Play Is the Pleasure of Being the Cause. On the Comparability of Scenic Sequences within the Playing Culture Willmar Sauter: Playing Is Not Pretending Part Two: Extensions Loren Kruger: Performance, Production and Other Spatio-temporal Practices in the Edgy City Anneli Saro: Writing: Exploring the Margins of Playing and Theatricality Barbara Orel: Naming as a Playing Practice and Political Strategy Janne Tapper: Pervasive Games: Representations of Existential In-between-ness Part Three: Politics Rikard Hoogland: Playing on and around the Public Square Vicki Ann Cremona: When the Saint Comes Marching out – the Cultural Playing of a Maltese Festa Gay Morris: Playing with Change: Repetition and Innovation in Township Performance Part Four: Conventions Henri Schoenmakers: ‘Being Oneself on Stage’: Modalities of Presence on Stage Mitsuya Mori: The Structure of Acting Reconsidered: from the Perspective of a Japanese Puppet Theatre, Bunraku David Graver: The Theatricality of Playing over and Playing out Biographies Index

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