1 - The Current State of Research on Late-Medieval Drama: 2002–2004. Survey, Bibliography, and Reviews

Summary

This article is a regular feature of Fifteenth-Century Studies. Our intent is to catalogue, survey, and assess scholarship on the staging and textual configuration of dramatic presentations in the late Middle Ages. Like all such dated material this assessment remains incomplete. We shall therefore include 2004 again in the next listing [vol. 31]. Our readers are encouraged to bring new items to our attention, including their own work. Monographs and collections selected for detailed review will appear in the third section of this article and will be marked by an asterisk in the pages below.

During the time span 2002–2004 English drama generated less scholarly inquiry than that devoted to French theater or European drama generally. Therefore, we begin by investigating collections focusing upon European studies.

The European Medieval Drama series (henceforth: EMD) published its fourth volume under the combined editorship of André Lascombes* and Sydney Higgins. The mix of articles here is discernibly well balanced, in that medieval drama from a variety of European countries is reflected. A distinguishing theme for 02–04 is gestures which complement and enhance play texts: Clifford Davidson* published Gesture in Medieval Drama and Art; Charles Reginald Dodwell researched Anglo-Saxon body motions as compared to those of the Roman stage, where Forcefulness, Restraint, Belligerence, Compliance, Dissent, Agreement, Puzzlement, Love, Fear, Grief, Supplication, Amazement, and Reflection are shown to have been easily readable in medieval Terence codices.