Performing disability in medieval and early modern Britain / by Mark C. Chambers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chambers, Mark C. (Mark Campbell), author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Early social performance

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Disabilities in the theater--England--History--To 1500.

Disabilities in the theater.

Disabilities in the theater--England--History--16th century.

Disabilities in the theater--England--History--17th century.

English drama--To 1500--History and criticism.

English drama.

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama--17th century--History and criticism.

Disabilities in literature.

People with disabilities in literature.

Physical Description:

viii, 190 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leeds : Arc Humanities Press, [2024]

Biography/History:

Mark C. Chambers is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Studies at Durham University and co-editor of the Records of Early English Drama collection for County Durham

Summary:

"'Performing Disability' is a landmark examination of performance history in the medieval and early modern era. Seeking to provide a fact-based assessment of disabled performance, this survey examines the nature and socialization of disabled performers in the medieval and early Tudor periods. Using 'Records of Early English Drama', literary representations, and targeted histories of disability in the medieval period, this study takes a new and welcome look at the evidence for, and the conceptualization of, 'impairment' as a performative act in the premodern era. It features discussions on the different societal constructions pertaining to 'disability' (mental incapacity, blindness and deafness, dwarfism, gigantism, etc.), and how the evidence for such conditions was socialized through performance. Taking an evidence-based and multidisciplinary approach to perceptions of identity and othering in premodern society, this study is certain to appeal to a wide audience, including historians of theatre and performance, disability advocates and theorists, and social historians.--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

"The number of fuillis ar infinite" : framing "foolery" as disability in premodern performance

"All fools to Christ" : the patronage of fools in English monasteries

Blyndharpours and Kakeharpours : accommodating blindness in premodern performance

Size and shape as aspects of early performance

Orthopaedic variance as performance.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-184) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Chambers, Mark C. (Mark Campbell). Performing disability in medieval and early modern Britain.

ISBN:

9781802700091

1802700099

OCLC:

1415747492

Publisher Number:

90102330137