MRDS Newsletter
Spring 1997

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MRDS at Kalamazoo
(and other sessions of interest)

Thursday, May 8, 10:00 a.m.

Session 12 (MRDS)
Sacrament and Sacrilege in Medieval and Renaissance Drama
Room 314
Organizer & Presider: Gerard Necastro, University of Maine

1. "Untransubstantiated Hosts and Royal Litter: Sacrament and Sacrilege in The Tragedy of Mariam"
   Elizabeth Mazzola, The City College of New York
2. "The Jew and the Sacred: Historical Configurations"
   Lara Bieler Kwalbrun, City University of New York
3. "Sacrilege and Grotesque Realism in the Digby Mary Magdalene"
   Victor I. Scherb, University of Texas-Tyler

Session 26
The York Doomsday Play Project
Room 1010 Fetzer
Sponsor: Centre of Information Management and Technology for Scholarship
Organizer & Presider: Andrew Prescott, The British Library

1. "The Scribal Environment of the York Register"
   Meg Twycross, Lancaster University
2. "The Maritime Heritage of the York Doomsday Play"
   Pamela E. King, University College of St. Martin-Lancaster
3. "The Community of Mercers and Their Pageant"
   Louise Wheatley, York Company of Merchant Adventurers

Session 41
Medieval Drama
Room 1280 Schneider
Presider: David E. Lampe, State University College-Buffalo

1. "Notes for the Staging of a Passion Play"
   Véronique Plesch, Colby College
2. "The Donington Cast List: Parish Guild Drama in Early Elizabethan Lincolnshire English Drama"
   James Stokes, University of Wisconson-Stevens Point
3. "Ye Herbered Me Full Hartefully: Civic Power and Charity in the York Mercers' Last Judgment Play"
   Roger A. Ladd, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thursday, May 8, 3:30 p.m.

Session 126
Ritual and its Spaces in Medieval Europe
Room 1140 Schneider
Organizer: Joelle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island
Presider: Janice Racine Norris, Binghamton University

1. "Justice's Rituals and Public Space: The Dismemberment of François de Cario in 1401 Avignon"
   Joelle Rollo-Koster, University of Rhode Island
2. "La Piazza Delle Lacrime: Preaching, Weeping and the Use of Public Space in XV-Century Italy"
   Lyn Blanchfield, Binghamton University
3. "The Ritual Space of Royal Palaces: Alms Giving in Thirteenth-Century England"
   Virginia Cole, Binghamton University

Thursday, May 8, 8:30 p.m.

Le Gieu d'Amour: Songs and Dances of Medieval France
Dalton Recital Hall

Friday, May 9, 10:00 a.m.

Session 136
Medieval and Renaissance Drama II
Room 310
Presider: Donald Hoffman, Northeastern Illinois University

1. "Is Dramatization of a Sacrament Subversive?--The Case of the Towneley and York Baptisms"
   William Munson, University of Alabama-Huntsville
2. "Medieval Elements in Pimlott's Richard III"
   Margaret J. Arnold, University of Kansas

Friday, May 9, 5:00 p.m. Medieval Renaissance Drama Society Business Meeting Stinson Lounge

Friday, May 9, 7:30 p.m.

THE BOSTON CAMERATA
The Sacred Bridge: Jews and Christians in Medieval Europe
Dalton Recital Hall

Saturday, May 10, 1:30 p.m.

Session 316
Shakespeare
Room 310
Presider: John M. Boni, Northeastern Illinois University

1. "'And mermaidlike awhile they bore her up': Hamlet IV.vii.67-84"
   Matthew Fike, American University in Bulgaria
2. "Not All That Ruthless: King Lear and the Book of Ruth"
   Paul Rovang, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Session 344
The Medieval Face: Art, Drama, Literature I
Room 1220 Schneider
Organizer: Susan Yager and Gloria Betcher, Iowa State University
Presider: Gloria Betcher

1. "Evil Incarnate: Representations of Devils in Medieval Drama"
   Margaret Raftery, University of the Orange Free State
2. "The Face of the Virgin: Mary in English Words and Windows"
   Barbara Palmer, Mary Washington College
3. "The Medieval Face in Music"
   Brad Eden, North Harris Montgomery Community College District

Session 351 (MRDS)
European Civic and Religious Spectacle
Room 1335 Schneider
Sponsor: Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society
Organizer & Presider: Karen Middaugh, Rocky River, Ohio

1. "The Sound of Civic Spectacle: Noise at Burgundian Ceremonial Entries"
   Jesse D. Hurlbut, Brigham Young University
2. "The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastians with the Hobby Horses and the Turks: A Catalan Corpus Christi Play"
   Max Harris, University of Wisconsin-Madison
3. "Forgetting the Old Testament Heroines: The Politics of Praise in Elizabethan Royal Pageantry"
   Donald V. Stump, St. Louis University

Saturday, May 10, 3:30 p.m.

Session 365 (MRDS)
Theorizing the Records: Methodological Approaches to the Production and Use of Edited Dramatic Extracts
Room 314
Sponsor: Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society
Organizer: James C. Cummings, University of Leeds
Presider: Jesse D. Hurlbut, Brigham Young University

1. "What is Drama? Considering Some Drunken Ghosts"
   Anne Brannen, Duquesne University
2. "The Space of Spectacle and the Place of Text: Representations of the Resurrection at Beverley Minster c. 1200"
   Patricia Badir, University of British Columbia
3. "Contexts, Questions and Confusions: Dramatic Activity in Norfolk"
   James C. Cummings, University of Leeds

   Respondent: Theresa Coletti, Univ. of Maryland

Session 396
Early Drama East & West: Early Western and Japanese Noh Plays--Points of Comparison/Contrast
Room 1345 Schneider
Organizer & Presider: Maris Fiondella, Fordham University

1. "Religious Perception and the Stage in Early Western and Noh Plays"
   Maris Fiondella
2. "Mirror Images in Noh and Shakespeare"
   Mikiko Ishii, Kanagawa University
3. "Noh Adaptation of Shakespeare: A Video Discussion"
   Kuniyoshi Munakata, Shizuoka University

Sunday, May 11, 8:30 a.m.

Session 401
Legal Representations I: Legal Performances
Room 302 Organizer & Presider: James H. Landman, University of North Texas and Maura B. Nolan, University of Notre Dame

1. "Music, Discipline, and Forensic Sonority in Medieval England"
   Bruce Holsinger, University of Colorado-Boulder
2. "Ritual and Trial: The Performance of Power"
   Maura Nolan
3. "'Naked as I Napped': Dreams and the Law in the York Plays"
   Ruth Shklar, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Session 422 (EDAM)
Early Drama, Art and Music
Room 1220 Schneider
Sponsor: EDAM
Organizer: Clifford Davidson, Western Michigan University
Presider: David Bevington, University of Chicago

1. "Costume in the Liturgical Drama"
   Dunbar H. Ogden, University of California-Berkeley
2. "Musical Instruments in Medieval Drama"
   Mary Remnant, London, England
3. "New Light on the Ordo Vitutum"
   Gunilla Iversen, University of Stockholm

Sunday, May 11, 10:30 a.m.

Session 446
New Approaches to British Medieval Drama
Room 1040 Fetzer
Sponsor: Medieval Association of the Midwest
Organizer & Presider: Liam O. Purdon, Doane College

1. "Emblematic Staging as Dramatic Principle in the N-Town Mystery Cycle"
   Paul Pellikka, University of Texas-San Antonio
2. "Teaching Medieval Drama through Performance in a Modern Church"
   John Velz, University of Texas-Austin
3. "The Morality of Technology in the Towneley Mactatio Abel"
   Liam O. Purdon

Session 454 (EDAM)
Technology, Guilds, and Early Drama
Room 1120 Schneider
Sponsor: Early Drama, Art and Music (EDAM)
Organizer: Clifford Davidson, Western Michigan University
Presider: Barbara Palmer, Mary Washington College

1. "Makers of Heaven on Earth"
   Gloria Betcher, Iowa State University
2. "Paint Your Wagon"
   Jon Terry Wade, Univ. of Toronto
3. "The Providers of Pyrotechnics in Plays and Celebrations"
   Philip Butterworth, Bretton Hall

Session ADD@
Performance of Gendered Bodies, Sacred and Profane
Room 1325 Schneider
Organizer: William Fitzhenry and Jacqueline McEvoy, Duke University
Presider: Jacqueline McEvoy

1. "The Virtuous Female Body: The Silos Thomas Relief"
   James R. Glaettler, Fairfield University
2. "Robin, Mary, and the Minstrels: Gender and Performance in the Early Ballads of Robin Hood"
   Chris Chism, Rutgers University
3. "Body and Voice: Gender and Preaching in the Digby Mary Magdelene"
   William Fitzhenry

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MRDS Minutes

from Business Meeting
Kalamazoo, MI
May 10, 1996
5:00 p.m.
Stinson Lounge
Larry Clopper, Presiding

1. The minutes from the last meeting were presented and approved as written.

2. Jesse Hurlbut read the Treasurer's Report.

3. Larry Clopper encouraged the active recruitment of new members into the Society.

4. The new Treasurer will investigate possible means for facilitating the payment of dues by non-U.S. Society members.

5. Larry Clopper gave a brief history of the organizational structure of the Society (e.g., Officers and Council Members as dictated by the MLA, etc.) and recommended conducting a single business meeting instead of two (the preliminary Executive Meeting and the general Business Meeting). For this year, then, the nomination of new officers and council members as well as the selection of session topics for future meetings will be conducted in the open business meeting. A brief discussion ensued which suggested that we articulate more clearly the role of the Council. The floor was then open for nominations for Council Members. Nominations were suspended when it was discovered there were no vacancies in the Council for this year. (Since the meeting, it has been determined that there are indeed vacancies. The process of nomination will take place by correspondence over the next few weeks.

6. Topics for future sessions. It was voted to accept the following topics and organizers for sessions at future meetings:

   Kalamazoo 1997
   "Sacrament and Sacrilege in Medieval and Renaissance Drama" (Gerard NeCastro)
   "European Civic and Religious Spectacle" (Karen L. Middaugh)
   "Theorizing the Records: Methodological Approaches to the Production and Use of Edited Dramatic Extracts" (James C. Cummings)

   MLA 1997
   "Homoeroticism and Homophobia in Early Drama" (Gerard NeCastro)
   "Framing Early Drama" (John Coldewey)

   Other topics remaining for future sessions:
   "Images of Medieval Drama" (Gordon Kipling)
   "Heresies in Medieval Drama Studies" (Gordon Kipling)
   "Patronage and Regional Traveling Companies" (Sandy Johnston)
   "Boys' Drama in the Renaissance" (...)
   "Staging the Medieval Body" (Bob Clark)
   "Inter-Art Perspectives of Medieval Drama" (Kristin Rygg)
   "Anti-Theatricality in Early Drama" (Margaret Pappano)

7. Translation Series. Steve Wright reported that he has received page proofs for the first volume of the Translation Series and positive comments from external reviewers for three other volumes. Additional volumes are also in various stages of preparation.

8. SITM Conference. Sandy Johnston gave a brief report on the SITM Conference in Toronto. She then invited Max Harris to report on the proceedings of the conference for the Trinidad Carnival.

9. Margaret Grasso and Kimberly Janczuk were warmly applauded for their effort in producing the Newsletter.

10. York Cycle in Toronto. The PLS announced that in the Summer of 1998, they will be organizing a performace of the York Cycle in Toronto. They invite participants from other institutions to participate by bringing a play to Toronto.

Respectfully submitted,
Jesse D. Hurlbut
May 22, 1996

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Calls for Papers and Conferences

Novus et Antiquus
The Twenty-Eighth Annual Interdisciplinary CAES Conference
The Committee for the Advancement of Early Studies
Friday and Saturday, 17-18 October 1997
Ball State University

Call for Papers/Abstracts
Areas of Classical, Early, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, such as Anthropology; Mathematics; Architecture; Music; Art; Pedagogy; Economics; Philosophy; Education; Politics; Foreign Languages & Literature; Religion; History; Science; Language and Literature of England; Social Structure; Law; Theology

$1000 Incentive Award
The Committee for the Advancement of Early Studies in conjunction with the editors of Classical and Modern Literature: A Quarterly announce the 1997 $1000 Incentive Award, offered by the editors of the Quarterly for outstanding scholarly work in the combined fields of a Classical (Ancient Greek or Latin) and a Modern Literature or Culture. Eligible for this award are scholars who have or will have had the Ph.D. conferred between 1 January 1997, and 1 July 1997. Send to the Convener statements of nomination (name, academic address, field of specialization, short vita) along with supporting materials (paper, list of publications and papers, support letters if desired). The winner of the 1997 award will present the paper at the Conference and then receive the award from the editors of the Quarterly at the Conference Banquet. Deadline: 15 May 1997.

Novus Competition
The Committee for the Advancement of Early Studies announces a competition for emerging scholars who do not have their doctorate or who have received it in the past seven years. All suitable papers will be awarded presentation time of twenty-five minutes, and the outstanding papers will be awarded presentation time plus small monetary prizes. Please send five copies of the completed paper plus verification of degree date to the Convener. Deadline: 15 May 1997.

Antiquus—Established Scholars
The Committee for the Advancement of Early Studies invites established scholars to share their years of experience and valuable research with the conference participants. Finished papers should be limited to a twenty to twenty-five minute presentation in order to leave five to ten minutes for questions. Please send five copies of a one-page abstract to the Convener. Deadline: 15 May 1997.

Undergraduate Prizes in Early Studies
The competition is for ten- to fifteen-page essays by superior undergraduate students. All suitable papers will be awarded presentation time of twenty to twenty-five minutes, and small monetary prizes will be awarded for the best research presented. Please send five copies of the completed paper to the Convener. Deadline: 15 May 1997.

Call for Session Chairs and for Organizers of Special Sessions
If you would like to chair a session of the conference, please write me as soon as possible. If you would like to sponsor a special session, please write me immediately.

Bruce W. Hozeski
Convener, CAES Conference of 1997
Department of English
Muncie, IN  47306-0460
TEL (765) 285-8456 or (765) 285-8580
FAX (765) 285-3765
E-MAIL 00BWHOZESKI@BSUVC.BSU.EDU

NOTE: The CAES Conference continues to welcome presentations from all academic areas of Early, Medieval and Renaissance Studies and wishes in particular to expand the number of presentations in Classical Studies including the Classical Tradition.

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SOMEBODIES, NOBODIES, and JUST BODIES
Medieval to Early Modern Estates, Texts, and Persons

1997 MEMSOP Conference to be held at:
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia
October 17-19, 1997

The Medieval to Early Modern Student Organization of the Pacific hoste by Simon Fraser University invites abstracts for its third annual conference which will focus on the theme of the body, broadly conceived as: political, military, religious, textual, metaphysical and physical in the medieval to early modern period.

Papers to be presented should be between 15 and 20 minutes in length. Graduate students are welcome to propose pre-constituted panels. Abstracts should be between 300-500 words and are due to one of the following persons by July 11, 1997.

Holly Faith Nelson or Derrick Higginbotham
English Department
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5A 1S6
Email:
hnelson@sfu.ca
dhigginb@sfu.ca

Please also indicate whether you need audio-visual equipment or other special arrangements.

This conference is co-organized and co-sponsored by the University of Washington, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and Simon Fraser University.

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Société Internationale pour l'Étude du Théâtre Médiéval
Ninth International Colloquium: Odense 1998
Bulletin 3: Supplementary Call for Papers/Productions

As the initial call for papers (Bulletin 2) was issued somewhat close to the specified deadline, and as our mailing list may not have been complete, it has been decided to extend the deadline to April 15, 1997. The colloquium will take place at Odense University from Monday 3 August to Sunday 9 August, 1998. Proposals for papers should take the form of summaries (max. one page, 1 1/2-line spacing), in a condition suitable for direct reproduction (i.e. hard copy, by conventional mail or fax). Proposals, which should be accompanied by postal and e-mail addresses, should be sent to:

Organizing Committee, SITM98
Centre for Medieval Studies
Odense University, Campusvej 55
5230 Odense M Denmark
Fax +45 65 93 24 83

Proposals will be subject to assessment, and notification of acceptance or otherwise will be given by 1 June 1997. Summaries should be in English or French. (These will be the working languages of the colloquium: it is not anticipated that simultaneous translation facilities will be available). Topics should be suitable for a presentation of about 20 minutes, and be related to the previously agreed agenda:
Easter Plays
Farces and Farcical Elements (including stock characters and stereotypes)
Martyrdom and Saints' Plays
Audience and Reception

The above revised deadline also applies to proposals for other forms of presentation, such as workshops, displays, etc., as well as for productions of medieval plays; depending on the numbers involved, a selection procedure may also be instituted. Proposals for productions should specify the number of performers, the preferred type of venue, and any special logistical problems involved. In addition to contributing to the colloquium, productions are likely to feature in the programme of summer-season entertainments and events offered by Odense City Council, and producers and performers will in due course be put in touch with a civic drama group, whose facilities will be made available. We are cautiously optimistic with regard to reimbursing in whole or in part the travel and accommodation expenses of theatre-groups.

A provisional programme will be issued in autumn of 1997.

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SHAKESPEARE AT KALAMAZOO
Thirty-third International Congress on Medieval Studies
Kalamazoo, Michigan
7-11 May 1998

PROPOSED sessions for the Congress in 1998 are subject to approval by the Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University. Shakespeare at Kalamazoo has organized programs at the International Congress since 1989.

TWO SESSIONS will be proposed for the Thirty-third Congress, both devoted to papers specifically relating Shakespeare to the broader canvas of cultural history.

Session 1. Shakespeare in the Tradition of Performing Arts
Session 2. Shakespeare and Cultural Community

Papers for Session 1 should demonstrate evidence in Shakespeare's plays of medieval ideas of theatre and of medieval performance practices and dramaturgical conventions. Papers for Session 2 should focus on the representation in Sheakespeare's plays of late medieval and early modern cultural trends.

Papers are invited from scholars in the fields of art history, music, folklore, history, philosophy, theatre history, history of science, as well as literature, both English and continental.

The Congress on Medieval Studies provides a unique milieu for an exchange of insights on Shakespeare's place in the continuum of culture. The following rules corresponding to those established by the Board of the Medieval Institute should be strictly adhered to if you intend to submit an abstract:

1. All abstracts must include the following information at the top of the front page: title of paper; name of author; complete mailing address, including e-mail and fax if available; institutional affiliation, if any, of the author; confirmation of the 20-minute reading time length; statement of need (or no need) for audio-visual equipment.

2. Abstacts or papers must be typed, double-spaced, not more than 300 words long, and must clearly indicate the paper's thesis, methodology, and conclusions. Accepted abstracts will be submitted for publication to the Shakespeare Newsletter or other periodical. Publication of abstracts does not preclude publication of complete papers.

3. THREE HARD COPIES OF ABSTRACTS or, PREFERABLY, COMPLETED PAPERS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY SEPTEMBER 1. Abstracts or papers submitted after the deadline cannot be considered. Three members of the governing board of Shakespeare at Kalamazoo will select the papers. Electronic submission is encouraged to facilitate transmission among the selection panel.

4. Submission of an abstract or paper will be considered agreement by the author to attend the Congress if the paper is accepted.

5. It is understood that papers submitted will be essentially new and will not have been presented in public before.

6. Graduate students wishing to submit material should consult their advisors about the suitability of their work and the regulations (if any) of their university.

7. Papers submitted may not require more than 20 MINUTES OF READING TIME, including slides, films, or other a/v support. Session leaders will hold papers strictly to this limit to facilitate discussion.

8. In order to allow as many scholars to participate in the program as possible, ONE ABSTRACT ONLY should be submitted to the Thirty-third Congress.

Please direct inquiries, abstracts, and papers to
Ruth Sternglantz
NYU-General Studies Program
326 Shimkin Hall
New York, NY  10012
FAX: 212-995-4137
Email: sternglz@is2.nyu.edu

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Acter Spring Tour 1997

Acter's Spring 1997 Tour of Actors from the London Stage performed Romeo and Juliet (completely different production from the Fall 1995 version) at the following campuses:

February 3-9, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL
February 10-16, Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL
February 17-23, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI
February 24-March 2, Allegheny College, Meadvill, PA and Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
March 3-9, Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, CA
March 10-16, Berea College, Berea, KY
March 17-23, University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR
March 24-30, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
March 31-April 6, LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA

The 1997-98 season of Measure for Measure and Midsummer Night's Dream is almost booked; to see the schedule or for more information on ACTER, visit our website at http://www.unc.edu/depts/acter/ or call Cynthia Dessen, Manager, 919-967-4265.

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Comparative Drama

Vol. 30, No. 4 (Winter 1996-97)

Diana Wyatt, "The English Pater Noster Play: Evidence and Extrapolations"

Robert L. Reid, "Humoral Psychology in Shakespeare's Henriad"

Robert W. Leslie, "Szorza Oddi and the Commedia Grave: Setting the Stage for Shakespeare

Reviews of Montrose, The Purpose of Playing (Ralph Berry); Maricarmen Gomez Muntane, El Canto de la Sibila, I (Clyde Brockett)

Vol. 31, No. 2 (Summer 1997--in press)

Max Harris, "A Catalan Corpus Christi Play: The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian with Hobby Horses and the Turks"

Maurice Charney, "The Voice of Marlowe's Tamburlaine in Early Shakespeare"

John E. Curran, Jr., "Royalty Unlearned, Honor Untaught: British Saveges and Historiographical Change in Cymbeline

Reviews of Gunnell, The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia (Martin Walsh); Kerrigan, Revenge Tragedy (Grace Tiffany)

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Lincoln Mystery Plays 1997

Directed by Keith Ramsay

From 28 July to 9 August 1997 the Lincoln Mystery Plays (N-town text) will be staged outside the great West Front of Lincoln Cathedral returning the plays to the very spot where they were first performed in the 15th century.

This is, as the Sunday Times says, "an event of natioanl importance," which will draw audiences from all over the world.

Mystery Plays, biblical dramas popular in England from the 13th to the 16th century, are enjoying a modern revival. The plays tell the story of mankind from the Creation to Doomsday passing through the high peaks of the Nativity, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. They provide a unique medieval picture of mankind's history and of medieval life but in a way that is accessible and exciting for modern audiences. The plays take their name from the "mestier" (metier, or trade) of their performers, who traditionally came from different trade guilds of the city.

The 1997 performances will involve both professional and local amateur actors under the direction of Keith Ramsay, an expert in medieval Mystery Plays.

The text of the "cycle" of plays, generally called N-Town, was written down by an East Midlands cleric in 1465 and has been prepared for this production by Keith Ramsay and Edgar Schell (Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of California-Irvine).

The plays will be presented in an "in-the-round" or "place and scaffold" style as medieval people would have called it.

Centered on the life of Christ, including the "unforgettable theatrical moment" of the Crucifixion, the evening will run from the respendent Creation play to Doomsday, "an extraordinary finale, where the audience becomes the Blessed or the Damned."

During the fortnight of the 1997 Mystery Plays Bespoke Tours offer you guided packages in the medieval city of Lincoln and the ancient county of Lincolnshire. All our tours are conducted by highly experienced guides and incorporate two nights accomodation and a guaranteed ticket to a performance of the Mystery Plays.

Preliminary inquiries for bookings to:
Bespoke Tours
c/o Ultra Tec
P.O. Box 312
Lincoln, LN5 9XW

Advance booking from:
Lincoln Mystery Plays
c/o The Precentory
16 Minster Yard
Lincoln, LN2 1PX
After 1 May 1997, tickets from:
Theatre Royal/Box office, Lincoln
Tel: 01522 525555

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Studies in Medievalism

Newsletter
Winter 1996-1997

Studies in Medievalism Newsletter is published once a year, free of charge, by Leslie J. Workman, Editor, Studies in Medievalism, Department of English, Hope College, Holland, MI   49423 (tel. 616-395-7626; fax 616-395-7134; e-mail workman@hope.edu. Check us out on the World Wide Web: http://macatawa.org/~simnet/

THE SUMMER INSTITUTE ON MEDIEVALISM
The Editors of Studies in Medievalism, in conjunction with the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of York, England, are pleased with the success of the first summer Institute (1996) and are confirmed in their intention of making this a continuing annual event. However, in order to place the Institute on a firmer administrative basis, they have decided not to hold the Institute in 1997. The second summer Institute on Medievalism will therefore be held June 30-July 25, 1998. As before, special arrangements will be made for those who wish to attend the International Medieval Congress at the nearby University of Leeds. Applications will be accepted beginning in September, 1997. An increase in expenses will be unavoidable, but we have every expectation of keeping the total cost under $2500, which includes room and board and field trips. Prospective registrants are again reminded that the University of York will require a minimal (and nonreturnable) room and board deposit early in 1998.

The Institute offers a four-week interdisciplinary core program with lectures on selected topics by visiting scholars, a flexible program of seminars and tutorials and is designed for both advanced scholars and graduate students. Graduate credit will be available, and also it will be possible to repeate the program for credit. The program will differ from that of last year by giving greater attention to seminars and tutorial conferences. The program of field trips will be increased and closely integrated with the course and will, we hope, incorporate a day trip to the new Ruskin Institute at Lancaster University.

For information, please contact Leslie J. Workman, Editor, Studies in Medievalism, Department of English, Hope College, Holland, MI   49423 (tel. 616-395-7626; fax 616-395-7134; e-mail workman@hope.edu.

CONFERENCES
1996 Conference. The Eleventh International Conference was held at Kalamazoo College September 4-7, 1996. The Conference was smaller than usual because of delays occasioned by the breakdown of our plans to hold this Conference in Europe, but David Barclay, Director of the Center for Western European Studies at Kalamazoo College, stepped into the breach and thus made this an outstanding event. Thanks are due especially to Janet Riley of the Center, whose careful attention to local arrangements made the Conference run smoothly. Special events included a plenary address, "Moral Chaucer," by David O. Matthews of the University of Newcastle, Australia; a presentation by Jerry Pattengale of the Scriptorium, a new research center in nearby Grand Haven, Michigan; and a reception hosted by the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University.

1997 Conference at Canterbury. The Twelfth International Conference on Medievalism will be held at Canterbury Christ Church College, Canterbury, England, August 13-16, 1997. Proposals for papers and full sessions are invited on all facets of the postmedieval response to and construction of the Middle Ages from 1500 to the present and beyond—including the development of medieval studies as a discipline. Papers and proposals involving Chaucer, Thomas Becket, the Religious Drama Society, or any other topic related to Canterbury are particularly welcome. Deadline for proposals is June 1, 1997. Our thanks to Professor R.J. Smith of Christ Church for making local arrangements for what promises to be an outstanding Conference. For information regarding these arrangements, please write
Professor R.J. Smith
Department of History
Canterbury Christ Church College
Canterbury, Kent CT1 1QU
UK
Email: r.j.smith@canterbury.ac.uk

To submit a proposal write Leslie J. Workman, Editor, Studies in Medievalism, Department of English, Hope College, Holland, MI   49423 (tel. 616-395-7626; fax 616-395-7134; e-mail workman@hope.edu. Special events are not yet set, but highlights will include tours of Canterbury Cathedral and a visit to the nearby University of Kent, whose campus offers a breathtaking prospect of the city. Canterbury enjoys easy access from London, Dover, and the South Coast.

The location of the Thirteenth Conference, to be held in 1998, will be announced soon.

International Congress on Medieval Studies. The ongoing program "Makers of the Middle Ages" will embrace three sessions at the Thirty-Second International Congress on Medieval Studies. Topics this year include the work of G.G. Coulton, Eugène Vinaver, Bernard ten Brink, Jacques Maritain, and Anna Jameson; also addressed will be biographies of Aelred of Rievaulx, the rediscovery of Beowulf, German imperialism, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Spain, and the music of Carl Maria von Weber. Scholars interested in submitting proposals for the 1998 Congress are invited to seek a prospectus for this program from Leslie J. Workman.

ACMRS Conference. Studies in Medievalism presented a program of two sessions at the 1997 Conference of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at Arizona State University February 13-15. Details of our participation in the 1998 conference are not yet available, but will be announced as soon as possible. Watch our web page! For the conference in general, address Robert Bjork, Director, ACMRS, Arizona State University, Box 872301, Tempe, AZ 85287-2301 (tel. 602-965-5900; fax 602-965-1681; email robert.bjork@asu.edu.

Ruskin Programme. The Ruskin Programme at Lancaster University is sponsoring a multi-disciplinary international conference, "Nineteenth-Century Religion and the Fragmentation of Culture in Europe and America," at Lancaster University LA14YT UK (tel. 44-1524-592-450, fax 44-1524-843027).

Publications
Studies in Medievalism. Volume VIII, Medievalism in Europe II, is about to go to press. Articles include Richard J. Utz on the ideology of German Anglistiks before 1945; Albrecht Classen on Hermann Hesse; Otfrid Ehrismann on Jeschute and Parzival; Nils Holger Petersen on Danish music drama; Robert E. Bjork on the Swedish novelist Jan Fridegård, Michael Glencross on French romantic medievalism, Martha MacFarlane on inventing the French medieval house; Adam Knobler and William Chester Jordan on St. Louis in French culture; Suzy Beemer on The Story of O; William Calin on contemporary Occitan literature; Roy Rosenstein on medieval texts in modern Brazil.

Studies in Medievalism IX (1997) will be devoted to Medievalism and the Academy and address the rise of medieval studies; the work of individual medievalists, both inside and outside the academy; the overlapping of medievalism and medieval studies; and the role of medievalism in contemporary critical theory. It is possible that what we have designated Medievalism and the Academy will in fact run through two issues (IX and X) and will include a substantial section on the impact upon medieval scholarship of electronic editing and publishing. Should this in fact occur, it will be possible to consider a few more papers, and anyone interested in offering us something under this rubric should certainly get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Copies of Studies in Medievalism may be ordered from Boydell & Brewer, Ltd. (P.O. Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1P12 3DF England) or Boydell & Brewer, Inc. (P.O. Box 41026, Rochester, NY 14604).

The Year's Work in Medievalism
After years of frustrated efforts, disappointments, and, we must admit, broken promises, we have finally brought The Year's Work in Medievalism into being. We have a workable financial formula for the publication of this series, and we expect to come steadily closer to our ideal of publishing each volume within twelve months of the annual Conference to which it relates: publication of back issues will be irregular, but as quick as we can make it. Volumes now published or close to publication are:

The Year's Work in Medievalism V, 1990 (Göppingen: Kümmerle Verlag, 1996). Copies of this volume, based on papers from our 1990 Conference in Kaprun, Austria, have now reached us and will be distributed to contributors as soon as possible. We do not yet have a firm price for copies for public sale, and inquiries from North America should be directed to Professor Ulrich Müller (Institut für Germanistik, Universität Salzburg, Akademiestr. 20, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria). It is expected, however, that the price of this volume will be high, about $75.00.

The Year's Work in Medievalism VI, 1991, edited by Michael Rewa and based on papers from our Conference at the University of Delaware, is on its way to the printer and may be expected early in the New Year. For further information, watch the Web or write to this office.

The Year's Work in Medievalism IX, 1994, based on papers from the Conference at Montana State University in that year, is in the hands of the printer and may also be expected early in the New Year. It is edited by David M. Metzger (Old Dominion) and Gwendolyn A. Morgan (Montana State) and includes an important address by Norman Cantor.

New Books on Medievalism
Kim Moreland, The Medievalist Impulse in American Literature: Twain, Adams, Fitzgerald, Hemingway (University of Virginia, 1996). A lucid and much-needed study of the importance of medievalism in the work of major American writers. Also, David Pike, Passengers through Hell: Modernist Descents, Medieval Underworlds (Cornell, 1997); David Richter, The Progress of Romance: Literary Historiography and the Gothic Novel (Ohio State, 1996); Christopher Wright, ed., Sir Robert Cotton as Collector (Toronto, 1996).

Medievalism and the Modernist Temper, ed. Howard Bloch and Stephen G. Nichols (Johns Hopkins, 1996), deals with medievalism in France in the second half of the nineteenth century and may be recommended. However, readers should be warned that the usage of the term "medievalism" here is inconsistent and misleading.

Medievalism in France
Scholars in France may be interested in a project entitled "La Fabrique du Moyen Age: la réception de la civilisation médiévale dans la litérature française du XIXe siècle," coordinated by Simone Bernard-Griffiths at the following address: Centre de recherches révolutionnaires et romantiques, Université Blaise-Pascal, 29 boulevard Gergovia, 63037 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex 1, France. Our information comes from Professor Michael Glencross (University College of Ripon and York, College Road, Ripon HG4 2QX, England; email: m.glencross@ucrysj.ac.uk), who may also have further information.

Medievalism and Virtual Reality
SIM is currently seteting up a Listserve to replace the Studies in Medievalism newsletter. If electronic forms of communication are not accessible to you, you should as soon as possible let us have a mail or fax address to receive an abbreviated Newsletter and announcements. Studies in Medievalism is compiling an in-house directory of e-mail addresses; please send yours.

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MRDS Member Publications

Jody Enders
"Medieval Snuff Drama," forthcoming in Exemplaria.

Max Harris
"Moctezuma's Daughter: The Role of La Malinche in Mesoamerican Dance," Journal of American Folklore 109 (1996): 149-177.

"The Dramatic Testimony of Antonio de Ciudad Real: Indigenous Theatre in Sixteenth-Century New Spain, Colonial Latin AMerican Review 5 (1996): 237-251.

"The Return of Moctezuma: Oaxaca's Danza de la Pluma and New Mexico's Danza de los Matachines," The Drama Review 41 (1997): 106-133.

Richard Rastall
The Heaven Singing: Music in Early English Religious Drama, Vol. I. Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 1996.

Stephen Wright
"Drama," Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide. Ed. F.A.C. Mantello and A.G. Rigg. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996: 574-581.

Miscellaneous

Professors Monica Brzezinski Potkay and Regula Meyer Evitt have just published a volume in Twayne's "Women and Literature" Series which includes a chapter on English Corpus Christi Cycle drama and fabliaux (Evitt is the author of the chapter): "Body Broken, Body Whole: Eucharistic Devotion, Fabliaux, and the Feminine Impulse of the Corpus Chrsiti Drama," in Minding the Body: Women and Literature in the Middle Ages, 800-1500 (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997).

First volume in the Early European Drama Translation Series (sponsored by MRDS and co-edited by Martin Stevens and Steven Wright) is: Arnoul Greban, The Mystery of the Passion: The Third Day. Trans. Paula Giuliano. Binghamton: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1996. ISBN: 1-88918-01-1. 205 pp. $9.95. Available as part of the Pegasus Paperbacks Series. More about EEDT is available on the Internet: http://www.campus.cua.edu/www/eng/eedt.htm

Koopmans, Jelle. Le Théâtre des exclus au Moyen Age: hérétiques, sorcières et marginaux. Paris, France: Editions Imago, 1997. 277 pages (including bibliography and catalog of devils in French Medieval Theater)

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MRDS Officers
1996-1997

President: Larry Clopper, Indiana Univ. (Bloomington, IN):
clopper@indiana.edu

Vice President: Milla Riggio, Trinity College (Hartford, CT):
milla.riggio@mail.trincoll.edu

Secretary: Jesse Hurlbut, Brigham Young Univ. (Provo, UT):
jesse_hurlbut@byu.edu

Council Members

Robert Potter (2000), UC-Santa Barbara
potter@humanitas.ucsb.edu

Max Harris (2000), Wisconsin Humanities Council
mrharri1@facstaff.wisc.edu

Theresa Coletti (1999), Univ. of Maryland
Theresa_M_Coletti@umail.umd.edu

John Coldewey (1999), Univ. of Washington
jcjc@u.washington.edu

Martin Walsh (1998), Univ. of Michigan

Mimi Dixon (1998), Wittenberg Univ.
mdixon@wittenberg.edu

Victor Scherb (1997), Univ. of Texas at Tyler
vscherb@aol.com

Lois Potter (1997), Univ. of Delaware

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The MRDS Newsletter
Guest Editor: Kim Janczuk
Special thanks to Jesse Hurlbut and Margaret Grasso

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The Play of Wisdom
Its Texts and Contexts
Edited by Milla Riggio

LC 95-39740 CIP ISBN 0-404-61444-2
Cloth $59.95
(AMS Studies in the Middle Ages, No. 14)

At a time when books are expensive to produce and difficult to keep in print, Milla Riggio has prepared a new kind of edition of a long-neglected medieval play. The Play of Wisdom is a scholarly, textual, acting edition of one of the three morality plays on which - apart from Everyman - we base our knowledge of early morality drama: useful in the classroom, full of crutches for the beginning student, sufficient for actors or directors who wish to produce Wisdom, and yet rigorous enough to satisfy early drama specialists. Though included in standard editions of The Macro Manuscript, Wisdom boasts only one "modern" edition of its own and that is a non-scholarly one now more than seventy years old and generally unavailable. David Bevington's standard Medieval Drama text omits the play altogether.

Professor Riggio's 1984 Trinity College production of Wisdom demonstrated that the play is an engaging festival, not a dull sermon. Now in this edition she has proveded new information about the relationship between the early manuscripts of Wisdom which significantly alters previous assumptions. Riggio proves, for instance, that the Folger Macro Manuscript is a copy of the Bodleian Digby. Her introductions will not only affect the way we date this play but will change the ways in which we define the early tradition of moral drama. In addition, Riggio frames issues of female literacy and gender representation in the 15th century. Reflecting its ten years of research and preparation, this edition includes an updated version of the acting script alongside a painstakingly edited medieval text, with careful introductions and 150 pages of notes which redefine the genre of the play and set it in a variety of theatrical and historical contexts. The glossary presents a contextualized dictionary of meanings and etymologies that, together with the bibliography and scholarly apparatus of the play, are impressive enough to have won the "Approved Edition" emblem of the MLA's Committee on Scholarly Editions. The CSE Award states:

The Committee's emblem indicates that this volume is based on an examination of all available relevant textual sources, that it is edited according to principles articulated in the volume, that the source texts and the edited text's devations from them are fully described, that the editorial principles and the text and the apparatus have undergone a peer review, that a rigorous schedule of verification and proofreading was followed to insure a high degree of accuracy in the presentation of the edition, and that the text is accompanied by appropriate textual and other historical contextual information.

David Bevington writes that "Milla Riggio's comprehensive and splendid edition of Wisdom . . . will be a real addition to scholarly resources for those of us who work in medieval drama. It is detailed, learned, user friendly, helpful in all the right ways." Theresa Coletti adds that "Riggio's edition is a wonderful book that offers many new dazzling insights into this much neglected fifteenth-century play." David A. Salomon concludes that "Wisdom has been neglected in study of the drama partially due to the difficulty of the text and partially due to the lack of a good scholarly edition - both of these problems will be remedied when Professor Riggio's work is finally published."

Of related interest:

The Wisdom Symposium
Papers from the Trinity College Medieval Festival
Edited by Milla Cozart Riggio

LC 85-48070 CIP ISBN 0-404-51441-8 Cloth $32.50
(AMS Studies in the Middle Ages, No. 11)

Please address all orders or inquiries directly to
AMS PRESS, INC.
56 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10003-4686
USA
Fax: (212) 995-5413

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TEN YEARS IN THE MAKING!

Now available:

PLEASE ENCOURAGE YOUR LIBRARY TO ORDER!

Thanks, MR

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