Performance and Theatricality in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Arizona Studies in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance)

This volume is intended as a contribution to the increasingly cross-cultural and globally oriented study of theater and performance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The essays gathered here encompass territories in modern Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain and examine material from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth. As these essays demonstrate, performance creates blended spaces -both representational and lived, both imaginary and concrete -which allow for the production of identities, beliefs, or relationships. These spaces may arise when one culture's performance practices influence those of another. They may be the product of the mixing of different genres, eras, or personages. These performative spaces may appear on stages, in urban squares, or in books, and they may allow for contact between genders, classes, religions, or political groups. Underlying all of these essays is the understanding that performance seeks to shape reality -that in all of the cultural contexts included here, performance opened a space in which patrons, rulers, writers, spectators, painters, and readers could see themselves or their societies differently and, as a result, might alter their identities or the world they inhabited. Marisa Galvez's essay "The Intersubjective Performance of Confession vs. Courtly Profession" offers an example of how performance could transform one's inner reality. She compares different understandings of penance that circulated in the late Middle Ages and their expressions in lay culture. The pious fables Le chevalier au Barisel and Fornication imitée both reflect the contritionist view of confession, which held that a penitent state of mind and the outward manifestation of contrition were crucial to a successful confession. Proper penance was thus a performance in which inner and outer selves corresponded. As these tales also emphasize, repentance could be incited by witnessing the penance of another person; thus the spectacle of penitence could alter one's inner state and make an effective confession possible. Galvez contrasts this conception of confession with that found in crusade love songs such as "Aler m'estuet" by the Châtelain d'Arras, in which the knight This volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies.00This volume is a contribution to the cross-cultural study of theater and performance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The studies gathered here examine material from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. Underlying all of these essays is the understanding that performance shapes reality ? that in all of the cultural contexts included here, performance opened a space in which patrons, rulers, writers, painters, spectators, and readers could see themselves or their societies differently, and thereby could assume different identities or construct alternative communities. Addressing confession and private devotion, urban theater and pageantry, royal legitimacy and religious debate, and a wide range of genres and media, this volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies This volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies. This volume is a contribution to the cross-cultural study of theater and performance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The studies gathered here examine material from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. Underlying all of these essays is the understanding that performance shapes reality, that in all of the cultural contexts included here, performance opened a space in which patrons, rulers, writers, painters, spectators, and readers could see themselves or their societies differently, and thereby could assume different identities or construct alternative communities. Addressing confession and private devotion, urban theater and pageantry, royal legitimacy and religious debate, and a wide range of genres and media, this volume offers a panoramic mosaic of the world-making role of theater and performance in medieval and early modern European societies This volume is a contribution to the cross-cultural study of theater and performance in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The studies gathered here examine material from Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Spain from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. Underlying all of these essays is the understanding that performance shapes reality - that in all of the cultural contexts included here, performance opened a space in which patrons, rulers, writers, painters, spectators, and readers could see themselves or their societies differently, and thereby could assume different identities or construct alternative communities. Addressing confession and private devotion, urban theater and pageantry, royal legitimacy and religious debate, and a wide range of genres and media, this volume offers a panoramic mosaic of theater’s world-making role in medieval and early modern European societies