WORKING GROUP SESSION: Global Theatre Histories – Exploring a New Research Paradigm

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  Date: November 1-4, 2012
• Venue: American Society for Theater Research 2012,
               Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel,
               Nashville, Tennessee

In the larger field of historical studies, for the past decade numerous European, American and Asian scholars have challenged conventional methods of writing history by applying a global/ transcultural/ transnational perspective to their objects of study that go beyond national boundaries.

In the recent discourse on global and transnational history there are various approaches that all privilege the relational dimension of history such as histoire croisée, connected history, transnational history, or entangled histories. Although entanglements and connections have always been an important part of history and are the rule rather than the exception, it is surprising that theatre has not been on the agenda of global histories, nor has theatre historiography significantly contributed to the new research paradigm of writing history transnationally or globally. Particularly during the early phase of globalization, imperialism, and the process of the ‘birth of the modern world’  (cf. Bayly 2004), theatre became a transnational or even global practice and a crucial cultural institution in many countries. Be it theatre architecture, theatrical forms and formats, or the mobility of singers/actors/impresarios, theatre has been part and parcel or sometimes even the node of a transnational network of artistic exchange.

The session aims at elaborating on the challenges of writing theatre history from a global and transnational angle. The tasks include finding the object and focus of research, balancing the “local” and the “global”, examining the many approaches and research methods, dealing with an unusual and often multilingual corpus of source material and resources, and the discussing implications for the teaching of theatre history.

FORMAT

The session is open to scholars experienced or interested in Global Theatre Histories. We encourage colleagues to propose papers addressing the topic upon the basis of case studies and discussing research questions and methods along global or transnational history and historiography. We envisage that papers as well as relevant readings shall be exchanged among the group of participants prior to the conference. The convenors will assign respondents to papers and/or specific research questions.

 Deadline for submission of short biography and abstract (300 words): 31 May

ORGANIZERS OF THE WORKING GROUP:

Christopher Balme & Nic Leonhardt
(Ludwig Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen, Germany)
e-mail: n.leonhardt@lmu.de