Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages

Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages
Author: O. B. Hardison Jr.
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2019-12-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1421430878

Originally published in 1965. The European dramatic tradition rests on a group of religious dramas that appeared between the tenth and twelfth centuries. These dramas, of interest in themselves, are also important for the light they shed on three historical and critical problems: the relation of drama to ritual, the nature of dramatic form, and the development of representational techniques. Hardison's approach is based on the history of the Christian liturgy, on critical theories concerning the kinship of ritual and drama, and on close analysis of the chronology and content of the texts themselves. Beginning with liturgical commentaries of the ninth century, Hardison shows that writers of the period consciously interpreted the Mass and cycle of the church year in dramatic terms. By reconstructing the services themselves, he shows that they had an emphatic dramatic structure that reached its climax with the celebration of the Resurrection. Turning to the history of the Latin Resurrection play, Hardison suggests that the famous Quem quaeritis—the earliest of all medieval dramas—is best understood in relation to the baptismal rites of the Easter Vigil service. He sets forth a theory of the original form and function of the play based on the content of the earliest manuscripts as well as on vestigial ceremonial elements that survive in the later ones. Three texts from the eleventh and twelfth centuries are analyzed with emphasis on the change from ritual to representational modes. Hardison discusses why the form inherited from ritual remained unchanged, while the technique became increasingly representational. In studying the earliest vernacular dramas, Hardison examines the use of nonritual materials as sources of dramatic form, the influence of representational concepts of space and time on staging, and the development of nonceremonial techniques for composition of dialogue. The sudden appearance of these elements in vernacular drama suggests the existence of a hitherto unsuspected vernacular tradition considerably older than the earliest surviving vernacular plays.

European Drama of the Early Middle Ages

European Drama of the Early Middle Ages
Author: Richard Axton
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2024-11-01
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 1040274706

First published in 1974, European Drama of the Early Middle Ages stresses the distinctive variety of the dramatic traditions, both secular and religious, and shows that throughout the period the popular and profane was a constant and lively source of enrichment to the mainstream of charge drama.Dr Axton reconstructs the forms and conventions of the major secular traditions and analyses in detail some of the finest plays of the period from traditions as various as the twelfth century Latin music dramas and the unique drama of Arras in Northern France. Turning finally to late medieval English drama he illustrates and underlines his main theme of the largely unrecognised influence of secular traditions on both the morality and cycle plays. The period from 900 to 1400 was remarkable, as Richard Axton demonstrates, for a dramatic range which accommodated the bawdy, the crude and the fantastic beside the solemn and sacred in its constant preoccupation with man and his identity. This is a must read for scholars and researchers of English and European Literature.

The Biblical Drama of Medieval Europe

The Biblical Drama of Medieval Europe
Author: Lynette R. Muir
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2003-09-18
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780521542104

This book presents a detailed survey and analysis of the surviving corpus of biblical drama from all parts of medieval Christian Europe. Over five hundred plays from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries are examined, in a wide-ranging discussion which makes available the full scope of this important part of theatre history. The volume is specially organised to provide a complete overview of major aspects of medieval biblical theatre, including the theatrical community of both audience and players; the major plays and cycles; and the legacy of medieval biblical theatre. The book also includes valuable appendices with information on the liturgical calendar, processions, and the Mass and the Bible.

The Medieval European Stage, 500-1550

The Medieval European Stage, 500-1550
Author: William Tydeman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 798
Release: 2001-09-27
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780521246095

This volume brings together a wide selection of primary source materials from the theatrical history of the Middle Ages. The focus is on Western Europe between the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of markedly Renaissance forms in Italy. Early sections of the volume are devoted to the survival of Classical tradition and the development of the liturgical drama of the Roman Catholic Church, but the main concentration is on the genesis and growth of popular religious drama in the vernacular. Each of the major medieval regions is featured, while a final section covers the pastimes and customs of the people, a record of whose traditional activities often only survives in the margins of official recognition. The documents are compiled by a team of leading scholars in the field and the over 700 documents are all presented in modern English translation.

A Common Stage

A Common Stage
Author: Carol Symes
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2007
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780801445811

Introduction : locating a medieval theater -- A history play : the Jeu de saint Nicolas and the world of Arras -- Prodigals and jongleurs : initiative and agency in a theater town -- Access to the media : publicity, participation, and the public sphere -- Relics and rites : "The play of the bower" and other plays -- Lives in the theater -- Conclusion : on looking into a medieval theater.

East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500

East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500
Author: Jean W. Sedlar
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 573
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 029580064X

Although the Middle Ages saw brilliant achievements in the diverse nations of East Central Europe, this period has been almost totally neglected in Western historical scholarship. East Central Europe in the Middle Ages provides a much-needed overview of the history of the region from the time when the present nationalities established their state structures and adopted Christianity up to the Ottoman conquest. Jean Sedlar’s excellent synthesis clarifies what was going on in Europe between the Elbe and the Ukraine during the Middle Ages, making available for the first time in a single volume information necessary to a fuller understanding of the early history of present-day Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the former Yugoslavia. Sedlar writes clearly and fluently, drawing upon publications in numerous languages to craft a masterful study that is accessible and valuable to the general reader and the expert alike. The book is organized thematically; within this framework Sedlar has sought to integrate nationalities and to draw comparisons. Topics covered include early migrations, state formation, monarchies, classes (nobles, landholders, peasants, herders, serfs, and slaves), towns, religion, war, governments, laws and justice, commerce and money, foreign affairs, ethnicity and nationalism, languages and literature, and education and literacy. After the Middle Ages these nations were subsumed by the Ottoman, Habsburg, Russian, and Prussian-German empires. This loss of independence means that their history prior to foreign conquest has acquired exceptional importance in today’s national consciousness, and the medieval period remains a major point of reference and a source of national pride and ethnic identity. This book is a substantial and timely contribution to our knowledge of the history of East Central Europe.

A Handbook to the Reception of Greek Drama

A Handbook to the Reception of Greek Drama
Author: Betine van Zyl Smit
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 624
Release: 2016-02-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1118347765

A Handbook to the Reception of Greek Drama offers a series of original essays that represent a comprehensive overview of the global reception of ancient Greek tragedies and comedies from antiquity to the present day. Represents the first volume to offer a complete overview of the reception of ancient drama from antiquity to the present Covers the translation, transmission, performance, production, and adaptation of Greek tragedy from the time the plays were first created in ancient Athens through the 21st century Features overviews of the history of the reception of Greek drama in most countries of the world Includes chapters covering the reception of Greek drama in modern opera and film

Medieval Roles for Modern Times

Medieval Roles for Modern Times
Author: Helen Solterer
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2010-01-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0271036133

"Examines the performances of a Parisian youth group, Gustave Cohen's Théophiliens, and the process of making medieval culture a part of the modern world. Explores the work of actor Moussa Abadi, and his clandestine resistance under the Vichy regime in France during World War II"--Provided by publisher.

Drama and Community

Drama and Community
Author: A. Hindley
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Total Pages: 324
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN:

There has been a marked revival of interest in medieval drama in recent years, much of it informed by an increasing understanding that drama is not just literature, but a social and indeed commercial event, essentially a communal effort, inextricably bound up with social structures. This collection of essays examines various aspects of the inter-relation between a number of different 'European communities' and the plays they performed, covering a range of theatres and play-types, and providing an international perspective on performance cultures across Europe. Contributors include Alan Hindley, Introduction; Lynette Muir, 'European communities and medieval drama'; Graham A. Runnalls, 'Drama and community in late medieval Paris'; Robert L.A. Clark, 'Community versus subject in late medieval French confraternity drama and ritual'; Frederick W. Langley, 'Community drama and community politics in thirteenth-century Arras: Adam de la Halle's Jeu de la Feuillee'; Alan Hindley, 'Acting companies in late medieval France: Triboulet and his troupe'; Alan E. Knight, 'Processional theatre and the rituals of social unity in Lille'; Wim Husken, 'Cornelis Everaert and the community of late medieval Bruges'; Elsa Strietman, 'A tale of two cities: drama and community in the Low Countries'; John Tailby, 'Drama and community in South Tyrol'; Konrad Schoell, 'Individual and social affiliation in the Nuremberg Shrovetide Plays'; Alan J. Fletcher, 'Performing medieval Irish communities'; Pamela M. King, 'Contemporary cultural models for the trial plays in the York Cycle'; Chris Humphrey, 'Festive drama and community politics in late medieval Coventry'; Philip Butterworth, 'Prompting in full view of the audience: a medieval staging convention'; Alexandra F. Johnston, 'English community drama in crisis: 1535-80'; Jane Oakshott, 'York Guilds' Mystery Plays 1998: the rebuilding of dramatic community'.