 |
 |
Dear Paul, As I read the history of criticism of medieval drama, OB Hardison's _Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages_ (1964?) essentially put to rest the "evolutionary" paradigm; that is, the idea that drama began in the sanctuary and then gradually spread onto the porch and then into the town square. (This idea informs Young particularly who excises the "liturgical drama" from its manuscript context to make it look more like drama as he conceived it.) For another example, the works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim throw a kink into that gradualist view. I am more familiar with English than continental traditions, but almost more recent work focusing on England like Larry Clopper's _Drama, Play, and Game : English Festive Culture in the Medieval and Early Modern Period_ or Gail Gibson's _The Theater of Devotion : East Anglian Drama and Society in the Late Middle Ages_ or Beadle's Cambridge Companion to Medieval Drama_ addresses the complexity of dramatic forms and their interrelations. Dan Kline U of Alaska Anchorage -----Original Message----- From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ray Lurie Sent: Monday, October 15, 2001 12:06 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 12th-century liturgical drama You'd also want to add Karl Young's _Drama of the Medieval Church_ to the list. On Mon, 15 Oct 2001, Paul Nelsen wrote: > Dear Friends, > > A colleague of mine has posed a question that I am unable to sort out for > her with any confidence. The specific query appears below but it asks for a > date when "liturgical" type drama shifted from interiors of churches to > outdoors. If you post your response to the list (I am interested and others > may be), I will pass it along to her. Alternatively, you may reply directly > to Prof. Clark. Meanwhile I am supplying her with copies of Chambers *The > Medieval Stage*, Tydeman's *The Theatre in the Middle Ages*, and Hardin > Craig's *English Religious Drama of the Middle Ages* -- all of which seem > to provide a swamp of evidence on why it may be hard to pinpoint a date. > Thanks for your consideration. > > Paul Nelsen > Theatre and Drama > Marlboro College > > > Is there any documentation (chronicles, letters, etc.) to > suggest, within a decade or two, when theatrical performances moved from > a liturgical context within the church to public performances of > somewhat longer plays on the exterior? I have a reference that mentions > the twelfth century, but that is a long and complex century, and I would > like to be more precise. Thank you, W. B. Clark (Art History, Marlboro > College: [log in to unmask]). > Ray Lurie 136 Edwards St. New Haven, CT 06511 Tel.: (203) 789-6121 Renaissance Studies Program Yale University