Call for Papers
50th International Medieval Congress
May 14-17, 2015
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Michigan
“The Devotio Moderna and the Rederijkers: Farce and Philosophy in Early Dutch Drama”
The Devotio Moderna and its teachings of spiritual interiority greatly influenced the religious life of the Low Countries throughout the later middle ages. Consequently, the literary and dramatic arts of this period were also influenced by the religious perspectives of the Devotio Moderna. This interface between fifteenth and sixteenth-century Dutch spirituality and its contemporaneous dramatic arts offers rich ground for intertextual studies. This session invites interdisciplinary papers on the Rederijker (Rhetorician) plays and their performance within the contexts of the spiritual interiority instructed by the Devotio Moderna.
The Redrijkers, their playwrights, plays, and performance, celebrated in morality and miracle plays the spirituality of the interior life or mocked it with farce and spectacle. The varied treatments the Rederijkers’ gave spiritual topics can be debated in terms of author, Redrijker chamber, and/or its religious leanings, political affiliations, and/or geographical location. Papers are welcomed which illuminate the Devotio Moderna’s perspectives on spirituality within the textual and dramatic fabric of Rederijker plays and their performance. Such scholarship will serve to broaden the English-speaking audience’s understanding of late medieval Dutch drama and its scope as a didactic theatrical medium.
One-page abstracts for papers for this session need to be received by/on September 30th (deadline extended) at the following address: mmb@purdue.edu
ALSO: please print out and complete the participation information form on the 50th International Congress website, scan it, and include it as an attachment with your abstract. This form is available at:
http://wmich.edu/medieval/files/call-for-papers-2015.pdf (see page 7)
If you have any questions about the session or the 2015 Congress, feel free to contact me and/or check the Congress website: http://wmich.edu/medieval/congress/
Best regards,
Mary Maxine Browne