This talk asks what Victorian culture looks like if we take theatre, rather than the novel or poetry, as the centre of Victorian culture-as, demographically, Meeuwis will establish was the case.
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What's happening?
Based on Everyone's Theatre: Literature and Daily Life in England, 1860-1914 (Michigan, 2019), the talk suggests that as Victorianists we are most used to novel-thinking - to imagining actions and subjectivities that accord with how novels work. As a thought experiment, Meeuwis will propose what it would look like to take theatre as the centre of the field. What does it mean to read the novel as anxious of its own predominance, rather than secure of readers' attentions? How does one act in emulation of the hero of a Victorian play, rather than in sympathy with characters in a Victorian novel? What were the audience dynamics of a live mass medium? And, ultimately, what modes of subjectivity does theatre-thinking promote, when addressed in the Victorian context?
Where?
Leeds Trinity University, Brownberrie Lane, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 5HD
When?
This event has been postponed due to the current climate.
Monday 18 May 6.00pm
Who should attend?
All with an interest in this era/field of study are welcome to attend. It will be of particular interest to members of the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies, and post-graduate students.
Further information?
To find out more or to book your place, please email Jane de Gay.