July
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0432 Thursday, 24 July 2008 From: Cary DiPietro <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Wednesday, 23 Jul 2008 15:10:56 -0400 Subject: CFP: "Shakespeare's Drama and Authorial Intention" Call for Papers: Special issue of the journal _Style_ in collaboration with SHAKSPER: The Global Internet Shakespeare Conference on "Shakespeare's Drama and Authorial Intention" Issue Guest-editor: Cary DiPietro Deadline for Submission: 31 October 2008 In a landmark 1946 article for the _Sewanee Review_ (later republished in _The Verbal Icon_), William K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley proclaimed authorial intention a fallacy. In doing so, they not only invented a critical terminology for literary interpretation, but also concretized the relationship between the literary text and a textual referent that is always belated by its critical post-ness, a referent that is, to borrow a phrase from Roland Barthes, "always already dead." But sixty years on, how "dead" is authorial intention? While it might seem that the critical assertions of the new critics and later poststructuralists have permanently decentred Shakespeare as a single and originating source of meaning for the body of writing the name metonymically represents, fantasies of his authorship persist, and they do so tenaciously. Despite the death of the author, Shakespeare lives on in the edited texts that bear his name, corrected by editors to ideal authorial texts from the early printed texts that have descended to us, "corrupted" by early printing practices and theatrical transmission. He lives in the theatre, where directors and actors seek to excavate an intentional ideal in the living medium of performance. He persists even more discreetly in a critical paradigm dominated by the historian's concern for material traces of an initial or originating context. The persistence of intention as a discrete field within different textual practices demonstrates that, far from having been exhausted or answered by contemporary criticism, questions about Shakespeare's dramatic authorship and his intended meanings, though unfashionable, remain important cruces. Papers are invited for a special issue of the journal _Style_ addressing the topic of Shakespeare's drama and authorial intention. This issue is a continuation of a collaboration with SHAKSPER: The Global Internet Shakespeare Conference, and follows a special Roundtable discussion held between April and July 2008, which can be read here (follow the "thread" link to read subsequent digests): http://www.shaksper.net/archives/2008/0199.html Contributors are invited to address any aspect of dramatic authorship or intention to the understanding of Shakespeare's dramatic writing. Contributors may wish to consider such questions as: - does authorial intention retain any utility for the discussion of literary meaning or textual understanding in the wake of theory and cultural studies? - does Shakespeare as a canonical and culturally central figure represent a special or distinct field of enquiry? - how does authorial intention inform or how might further discussions of intention be informed by textual practices such as editing and performance? - how have debates about authorial intention been shaped by changing critical and institutional practices over the past sixty years, and what role might they play, if any, in the changing profession? - how might authorial intention be redeployed from narrative studies for the drama or, alternatively, how might discussions of early modern dramatic authorship inform or reposition narrative studies? Essays in the range of 3000 to 6000 words and conforming to MLA guidelines should be submitted to Cary DiPietro (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) no later than 31 October 2008. Expressions of interest or informal enquiries are also welcome. _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0431 Thursday, 24 July 2008 From: Hardy M. Cook <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Thursday, July 24, 2008 Subject: Roger Rees' Shakespeare Show FROM: San Francisco Chronicle Online http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/22/DDQL11S9F7.DTL Roger Rees' Shakespeare Show Robert Hurwitt, Chronicle Theater Critic Tuesday, July 22, 2008 What You Will: One-man show. Created and performed by Roger Rees. (Through Aug. 9. American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. 95 minutes. Tickets: $29-$85. Call (415) 749-2228 or go to www.act-sf.org.) The best moment in playing Juliet is "the nanosecond when they offer you the part." One of the hardest lines to deliver in "Macbeth" is Malcolm's reaction when told his father has been brutally murdered: "Oh. By whom?" The worst thing about the "To be or not to be" soliloquy is delivering it immediately after making an entrance, with the whole audience knowing what you're about to say. It isn't just the offbeat insights into performing Shakespeare that make Roger Rees' "What You Will" an absolute delight. The anecdotes, drawn from 22 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company (the Juliet observation comes from former colleague Judi Dench), are terrific. The criticisms -- from the laments of young students to the venom of D.H. Lawrence and Voltaire -- range from amusing to hilarious. The Shakespeare speeches (and one sonnet) are delivered with mastery. And that's not even counting the outstanding passages from Charles Dickens and James Thurber. "Will," which opened Monday for a limited run at American Conservatory Theater, is a treat for lovers of Shakespeare and those who may have felt daunted, bored or confused by him alike. Created by Rees last year for the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., and reprised at Massachusetts' Williamstown Theatre (where he was artistic director), "Will" is a distinct departure from the great-speeches solo shows made famous by John Gielgud or the autobiographical approach of Lynn Redgrave's "Shakespeare for My Father." Rees offers snippets of his life -- childhood in Wales; spear-carrying with Ben Kingsley in their early RSC years; his first tiny speaking roles; a moment with Laurence Olivier when they were filming "The Ebony Tower." He more than does justice to speeches ranging from the "muse of fire" from "Henry V," Macbeth's dagger vision and Hamlet's "To be" and "rogue and peasant slave" soliloquies (Rees holds the Stratford-Upon-Avon record for playing Hamlet) to both a smitten adolescent Romeo and garrulous old Nurse from "Romeo and Juliet." But it's the way he sets up these passages that distinguishes "Will" as much as his trippingly-on-the-tongue delivery. Whether citing online student complaints and commentaries about the Bard and his "Islamic pentameter" or anecdotes about David Garrick's special-effects wig or Edmund Kean's preshow sexual needs, Rees uses a continuous flow of humor to set up the dramatic moments. A casual, charming figure in a loose shirt and brown slacks - framed by Alexander V. Nichols' theatrical-clutter set and moody lighting - he slips into the characters with an ease as comfortable as it is transparent. He's more obviously acting in quick impersonations of Voltaire or George Bernard Shaw than in the Shakespeare passages. His rendition of a Dickens scene from "Great Expectations" is touching and cleverly crafted. His take on Thurber's "The Macbeth Murder Mystery" is a comic gem. By contrast, his Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard II and Lear seem easy and natural. Rees uses his humorous, colloquial framework not just to increase the dramatic intensity and highlight the beauty of his Shakespeare, but to demystify it as well. "Will" makes Shakespeare as familiar as breathing, which is yet another beguiling aspect to Rees' delightful show. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/22/DDQL11S9F7.DTL _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0430 Tuesday, 22 July 2008 From: John E. Perry <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 01:33:30 -0400 Subject: 19.0421 RT: Shakespeare's Intentions Reactions Comment: Re: SHK 19.0421 RT: Shakespeare's Intentions Reactions Hardy M. Cook wrote: >[Editor's Note: Let me interrupt here to solicit suggestions for >Roundtable #3. What would you, John, and other non-Shakespearean members >of the list like to study in depth in the Roundtable format? Hm. The question of presentism came out of a clear blue sky for me; while I had heard matters of this sort discussed before, I hadn't known that there were lines drawn and sides joined in battle over the question. That revelation was one of the minor benefits of the first Roundtable for me. The idea that we couldn't really know the true intent of the author was present in some of my education and studies, but I'd never heard an intensive discussion of the matter, and some of my ideas and opinions were refined by the second Roundtable. Both of these were matters I could never have raised on my own, and I hesitate to try to come up with any, now. But Professor Urkowitz's idea that Shakespeare's progress in developing his plays can be traced through the quartos is intriguing. And, since I understand from comments made during the discussions that his idea was either dismissed without refutation or simply ignored, it seems that, handled well, this topic could make Shaksper a research forum, more than just a discussion forum (I emphasize _just_ as opposed to _merely_). >... And once again, my congratulations >and sincerest thanks to Cary DiPietro for a job well done. -Hardy] And mine, and belatedly to Professor Grady. [Editor's Note: And I too repeat my congratulations for a job well done to Hugh. -Hardy] John Perry _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0429 Tuesday, 22 July 2008 [1] From: Bob Grumman <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 10:03:11 -0500 Subt: Re: SHK 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report [2] From: Robert Projansky <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 22 Jul 2008 06:03:35 -0700 Subt: Re: SHK 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report [1]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bob Grumman <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 10:03:11 -0500 Subject: 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report Comment: Re: SHK 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report I doubt that many testees cheated. My problem with the test is that it seems to me to have been a golden memory test rather than a golden ear test. Specialists in Shakespeare's plays will likely have been so submerged in his works as to be able to recognize just about any passage from them not because of their Shakespearean style but because they remember the specific passage. Such a person might come on a passage that sounds like first-rate Shakespeare and know it isn't by him because, had it been, they'd have remembered so good a passage. A real specialist would recognize who wrote most Shakespearean-sounding passages that weren't by Shakespeare, too. Only a fool, I contend, would claim no one ever wrote at Shakespeare's level, in Shakespeare's style, but he. So my argument is that a genuine golden ear not combined with a golden memory would be more apt to mistake non-Shakespearean passages for his than a golden memory would. The results of the test, from this point of view, then, are not evidence in favor of the validity of stylometrics (though I think that for much longer passages, stylometrics will eventually prove valid). --Bob G. [2]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Robert Projansky <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 22 Jul 2008 06:03:35 -0700 Subject: 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report Comment: Re: SHK 19.0422 Golden Ear Final Report Janet Costa wrote: >Can someone give me the phonetic spelling for a "Bronx cheer???" Yes: Ham. Buzze, buzze. Bob Projansky _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0428 Tuesday, 22 July 2008 [1] From: Rebecca Gillis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 13:19:15 +0300 Subt: Twisting the Knife [2] From: Hugh Grady <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 09:47:59 -0400 Subt: RE: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation [3] From: John Drakakis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 14:58:05 +0100 Subt: RE: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation [4] From: Alan Pierpoint <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 12:25:10 -0400 Subt: Re: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation [5] From: Mari Bonomi <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 15:11:43 -0400 Subt: Re: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation [1]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Rebecca Gillis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 13:19:15 +0300 Subject: Twisting the Knife How about "For Brutus is an honourable man" (Julius Caesar III.2.79) Rebecca Gillis [2]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Hugh Grady <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 09:47:59 -0400 Subject: 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation Comment: RE: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation What comes to mind is not Shakespeare but Pope and Dryden. What about Pope's famous couplet, "Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer." Pope: Epistle to Arbuthnot. [3]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Drakakis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 14:58:05 +0100 Subject: 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation Comment: RE: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation Try Macbeth: 'False face doth hide what the false heart doth know' Cheers, John Drakakis [4]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Alan Pierpoint <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 12:25:10 -0400 Subject: 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation Comment: Re: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation " . . . one may smile, and smile, and be a villain . . . "? Act I, scene v.? -Alan Pierpoint [5]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mari Bonomi <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Monday, 21 Jul 2008 15:11:43 -0400 Subject: 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation Comment: Re: SHK 19.0419 Question: Appropriate Quotation >"Is there a quote that captures the idea of speaking kind words while >thrusting in the knife -- that is, empty rhetoric combined with aggression? >Perhaps from one of the political plays?" My instant response: Hamlet 1.5: O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! My tables, -- meet it is I set it down, That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain; At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark: Mari Bonomi _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.