Beastly Drama: Animals in Early Modern Theatre

[this via SHKSPER]

Last call for submissions to the MRDS session at the International Congress for Medieval Studies, Leeds, 12-15 July 2010.

2009, which marks the sesquicentennial of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, has set off a flurry of investigations into evolution and animal studies in various disciplines. How do we define ourselves in relationship to the animal/human binary, and has that definition changed since the early modern period? This session will consider how we might interpret the interactions of animals and humans in theatre from the 14th to 17th centuries. Possible topics include: staging with animals in theatres (from bear-baitings to the sheep in /The Second Shepherd's Play/ to Crab in /Two Gentlemen/); animals as symbolic "others" (from "the beast with two backs" to Ferdinand's lycanthropia); representations/constructions of animals in entertainments; anthropomorphization and hierarchical ideologies.

Please send abstracts and title to:

Suzanne Westfall
Department of English/Theatre
Lafayette College
Easton PA 18042 USA.