Greeks and Romans on the Latin American Stage
International conference: 24-26 June 2014
Over the past few decades scholars have examined the reception of classical drama across various continents, and in a variety of colonial and postcolonial contexts. Most of the research, however, has focused on Europe, Africa, North America, and Australasia. Given its vast geographical size and cultural diversity, Latin America remains relatively unexplored, though it has garnered some attention in recent years (e.g. Croce 2006; Torrance 2007; Nelli 2009, 2010, 2012; Nikoloutsos 2010, 2012; Fradinger 2011; Barrenechea 2012; Brunn 2012; Poulson 2012).
This
international conference seeks to explore the broad afterlife of Greek and Roman
tragedy and comedy in Latin American theatre in the modern period. Latin American dramatists have
repeatedly engaged with their classical forebears in order to
interrogate and debate new political, social and religious paradigms. Especially in
the past few decades, the region has seen a number of pioneering theatrical
adaptations of classical drama that directly address the turbulence of the
twentieth century and the dilemmas of postcolonial reality. Latin American ‘Antígonas’, for example,
make use of their Athenian prototype as a means to explore issues that are pertinent to
the region’s painful history of social and political conflicts.
We invite papers that examine case studies and approach the topic from a variety of theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Papers that explore the intersections between gender, race, and politics are especially welcome. We also welcome papers that examine the ways in which ancient drama has been used to articulate issues pertaining to violence in modern societies. Other questions to be addressed by each individual paper include, but are not limited to, the following:
· What is the artistic and socio-historical context for these modern rewritings?
· Are these direct derivatives of the Greek or Roman original, or are they in dialogue with other modern plays and artistic traditions (local and/or global)?
· Are these re-workings dominated by or emancipated from the ancient prototype in terms of narrative structure, character development, and ideology?
· Have these rewritings initiated a chain of modern receptions through which ancient themes and ideas have migrated across national or regional borders?
By
bringing together scholars from Europe, North and South America, the conference
—
the first of its kind to be organized at an international level — seeks to
address the broad appeal and continuing relevance of classical drama in a
diverse and multicultural region such as Latin America. By focusing on texts that are relatively
unknown in the Anglophone world, the conference aims to fill an important gap
in the scholarship on the afterlife of classical drama. We also hope to establish lasting links
between scholars working in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Invited speakers and chairs include:
Anastasia Bakogianni (The Open University, UK)
Francisco Barrenechea (University of Maryland, College Park, USA)
Aníbal Biglieri (University of Kentucky, USA)
Katie Billote (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Isabella Tardin Cardozo (University of Campinas, Brazil)
Moira Fradinger (Yale University, USA)
Rodrigo Gonçalves (University of Paraná, Brazil)
Maria Cecília de Miranda Nogueira Coelho (University of Minas Gerais, Brazil)
M. Florencia Nelli (Oxford University, UK)
Jesse Weiner (University of California, Irvine, USA)
Maria Wyke (University College London, UK)
Lorna Hardwick (The Open University, UK) will deliver the keynote address.
The conference will be held in English.
Papers are expected to be 20-25 minutes in length with 10 minutes for questions immediately following the presentation.
Please submit an abstract of approximately 600 words, along with a selected bibliography, to the following email address:
greeksromanslastage@gmail.com.
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is Monday, 1 July 2013.
The abstracts will be reviewed by the conference organizers and an anonymous referee.
Submitters will be notified by the end of July.
Should you have any questions about the conference, please contact the organisers, Dr Rosa Andújar (UCL) or Dr Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos (Saint Joseph's University, USA)
Page last modified on 10 apr 13 02:58
