Congratulations to Dr Edel Semple on the publication of 'Staged Normality in Shakespeare's England'

30 Jan 2019

Edited collection on normality in early modern drama published by Palgrave

The School of English is pleased to announce the publication of Staged Normality in Shakespeare's England, edited by our own Dr Edel Semple and by Dr Rory Loughnane (University of Kent). Staged Normality brings together over a dozen leading and early career scholars and it is a companion to the 2013 collection Staged Transgression in Shakespeare's England, which was also edited by Drs Semple and Loughnane. 

Staged Normality in Shakespeare's England examines the staging and performance of normality in early modern English drama. Analysing conventions and rules, habitual practices, common things and objects, and mundane sights and experiences, this volume foregrounds a staged normality that has been heretofore unseen, ignored, or taken for granted. It draws together leading and emerging scholars of early modern theatre and culture to debate the meaning of normality in an early modern context and to discuss how it might transfer to the stage. In doing so, these original critical essays unsettle and challenge scholarly assumptions about how normality is represented in the performance space. The volume, which responds to studies of the everyday and the material turn in cultural history, as well as to broader philosophical engagements with the idea of normality and its opposites, brings to light the essential role that normality plays in the composition and performance of early modern drama.

Dr Semple's chapter in the volume, 'Transgressive Normality and Normal Transgression in Sir Thomas More', examines the everyday, power, and conflict in the multi-authored play Sir Thomas More. 

For more information on the collection, see Palgrave's website: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030008918#aboutBook