IMC 2015: Sessions
Session 804: Comic Drama on the European Continent: A Cross-Cultural Exploration
Tuesday 7 July 2015, 16.30-18.00
| Sponsor: | Medieval & Renaissance Drama Society |
|---|---|
| Organiser: | Mandy Lowell, Medieval Studies Program, Cornell University |
| Moderator/Chair: | Mandy Lowell, Medieval Studies Program, Cornell University |
| Paper 804-a | A Comic Catechism?: Staging the Prodigal Son in 15th-Century Florence (Language: English) Index terms: Biblical Studies, Education, Lay Piety, Performance Arts - Drama |
| Paper 804-b | Reluctant Laughter: Comedy in Very Serious Plays (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - Dutch, Performance Arts - Drama |
| Abstract | In the last few decades, scholars of medieval English drama have pushed for medieval plays to be studied as what they really are: as theatre and entertainment, to be performed in front of an audience rather than read quietly in solitude. There is no reason to not also apply this standard to their less-studied cousins, the plays of continental Europe. To launch one such discussion, this session will examine comedy and comedic technique in continental theatre, both secular and religious, in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. We will explore comedy not only as entertainment, but as education, propaganda, celebration, and even as a coping mechanism. |