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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 1325: Constructions Matérielles du Sacré et du Infernal au Théâtre / Material Constructions of the Holy and the Diabolic on Stage

Wednesday 3 July 2019, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:Société Internationale pour l'étude du théâtre médiéval (SITM)
Organiser:Cora Dietl, Institut für Germanistik, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen
Moderator/Chair:Véronique Dominguez, Université de Nantes
Paper 1325-aUne Pièce Centrale des Représentations de Mystères: La Gueule d’Enfer
(Language: Français)
Mathilde Schwarz, Département de littérature française et comparée, Sorbonne Université, Paris
Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Performance Arts - Drama, Religious Life
Paper 1325-bMaterial Godheads, Made from Stone and Wood: Heathen Idols on the 16th-Century Swiss Stage
(Language: English)
Cora Dietl, Institut für Germanistik, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen
Index terms: Language and Literature - German, Performance Arts - Drama, Religious Life
Abstract

The papers of the session discuss how the principals of immateriality, such as the sacred or divine, and the diabolic, are represented or rather constructed on stage by the use of 'things', which might be understood as symbols or attributes of the divine or diabolic. Paper -a focusses on the hell mouth that was frequently used in 15th-century religious plays, and asks how the material side of these constructions helped to represent the violence and horror of hell in plays like the Mystère de la Passion by Arnoul Gréban. Paper -c compares the representation and critique of 'material godheads', i.e. heathen idols in Catholic and Protestant religious plays that were staged in 16th century Switzerland, in the context of the contemporary discussion of the cult of saints.