‘Civilization arises and unfolds in and as play’ (Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens). In civic entertainment, ‘play’ constitutes the primary formative element in human culture that affords and sustains common interest and amusement. Texts produced in the classical, medieval and the Renaissance periods document how the Church, the Court, and the citizens devise their ‘play’ in triumphal entries, court entertainment, civic festivals, religious rituals, processions, drama, music and dance.
But why does culture endlessly produce and consume entertainment? What are the motives that prompt people to create civic entertainment? How did civic entertainment and its effects resonate through manuscripts, print, economics, politics and the arts from the classical period to the Renaissance?
This year’s conference explores complex manifestations of ‘play’, aiming to look into ‘makers’ and consumers of civic entertainment in the city, the ‘common’ stage for cultural productions across the classical, medieval and Renaissance periods. TACMRS now invites proposals for papers on one of the following themes:
The Church and religious ‘play’ in the city
Court entertainment and the city
Popular festivals in the civic space
Playwrights and their ‘play’
Artists and the performing arts
TACMRS provides an interdisciplinary forum for discussions and debates on the motives, performances, and effects of civic entertainment, and seeks to create dialogue between and across disciplines and periods. We would particularly encourage submissions with cross-cultural approaches, and on this premise welcome papers that reach beyond the traditional chronological and disciplinary borders of classical, medieval and Renaissance studies. The conference will be held on Oct 28 and 29. Please send your abstract and CV to TACMRS.NSYSU@gmail.com by 28 December 2010.
