CFP: "Consciousness, Theatre, Literature, and the Arts 3," Lincoln School of Performing Arts, University of Lincoln, May 16-18, 2009.

Abstracts (up to 1 page) are invited for papers relating any aspect of consciousness (as defined in a range of disciplines involved with consciousness studies, but not therefore restricted or limited to the academic university context) to any aspect of theatre, performance, literature, music, fine arts, media arts and any sub-genre of those. Creative work is also expressly invited.

Please send the abstract to Professor Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, dmeyerdinkgrafe@lincoln.ac.uk. Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 1 March 2009.

(Thanks to http://www.continental-philosophy.org/.)

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).

"Tragedy and Archaic Greek Thought," School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, June 13-15, 2008.

The aim of the conference is to explore the relation (be it complementary or antithetical) between Greek tragedy and Archaic thought, i.e. the broad nexus of ideas, both traditional and philosophical, that the genre and its audience may be said to have inherited from the Archaic period, broadly defined – ideas such as the justice of the gods and the prospect of their envy, the instability of human fortune, the principle of alternation, hybris and ate, inherited guilt, the influence of Presocratic thinkers, etc. We believe this relation is due for a fresh exploration. More information may be found here: http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/conferences/tragedy08/index.html.

Dugan, Timothy. "Review of Simon Goldhill's HOW TO STAGE A GREEK TRAGEDY TODAY." BRYN MAWR CLASSICAL REVIEW 34 (March 2008)

Goldhill, Simon. How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2007. It isn't often that we see the idiom "How to" prefacing the title of an academic study. In that sense, Simon Goldhill's no-nonsense How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today, is singular, but in more important ways such as organization and utility, Goldhill's book is equally impressive. In his introduction Goldhill identifies six production values that confront "any company that chooses to produce a Greek tragedy" (3). These issues are the organizing principle and chapter headings of the book. . . . Read the rest here: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2008/2008-03-34.html.