CFP: "Life is a (Greek) Tragedy II," Finnish Institute at Athens, February 9-10, 2009.

Greek tragedy is performed on stage today more frequently than ever since antiquity. Hence, over the past few decades, the attention of scholars has been drawn to the reception of ancient dramas. Reception studies offer a new and extremely interesting approach to ancient tragedy, and provide the means to consider it from a fresh perspective. The first part of this colloquium was held in Helsinki on 10 May 2007. It concentrated on the questions of textual analysis and translation of ancient drama, the requirements of dramaturgy in staging ancient drama, as well as on the need for collaboration between scholars and theatre professionals. This second colloquium, Life is a (Greek) Tragedy II, provides a venue for young scholars of ancient drama to discuss and receive feedback on their research. The aim of this colloquium is to examine different aspects of reception of ancient drama – in literature, on the stage from ancient times to the present, and in translations.

Papers (c. 20-30 min.) are invited on the following topics (these themes are directive, and the subjects of the papers may vary; all papers discussing ancient drama and/or its reception will be considered for presentation):

• Reception in antiquity. How did the ancient audience receive the plays? Transition from Greek to Roman stage.
• The use and ideological variation of ancient drama in general or in an individual play.
• Translations: translation as a rewriting and recreation of an ancient play.
• The translator’s role as a receiver of the ancient text and creator of a rereading of the play. Requirements of dramaturgy.
• What makes a good dramatization of an ancient drama for modern performance?
• Ancient drama on stage: the original performance and modern adaptations.
• The claim of authenticity?
• What makes a performance?
• The role of the text in a performance of an ancient play: is the text a minor factor in the process of creating a performance or a kind of performance itself?
• The creation of the space of performance: social, political, philosophical context.

The colloquium is organised by the Finnish Institute at Athens and the Centre of Excellence of the Academy of Finland Ancient Greek Written Sources. Anyone interested in participating and/or presenting a paper in the colloquium, please contact us for more information via e-mail by 2 June 2008.

Martti Leiwo (martti.leiwo@helsinki.fi) and Sanna-Ilaria Kittelä (sanna.kittela@helsinki.fi).