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CALL FOR PAPERS
Cartaphilus. Revista de investigación y crítica estética
Special issue: «Theatre landscapes: violence in the theatre»
Universidad de Murcia
Volume 14, 2016
Gertrude:
Her clothes spread wide;
and, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
as one incapable of her own distress,
or like a creature native and indued
unto that element: but long it could not be
till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
pull’d the poor wretch from her melodious lay
to muddy death.
[William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act IV scene VII]
(The Father pulls his hair, stretches his head up and places the noose around his neck. The father climbs
down the ladder).
FATHER AND MOTHER.- ¡One, two… three!
(The Mother removes the chair swiftly as the Father simultaneously pushes him violently. PIBE’s body
sways around the room. Moans and convulsions are heard. His body crashes the mirror mid- swing,
which takes the form of a cobweb).
[Eduardo Pavlovsky, Telarañas]
Over a mountain of dismembered dolls.
Narrator.- When Elsa and Mateo Palavrakis said goodbye to the rest of players, they did not know that they would be dead
that very night.
Mr. and Mrs. Palavrakis tumble down the mountain of dismembered dolls carrying lit candles in their mouths.
[Angélica Liddell, El matrimonio Palavrakis]
Since its origins, theatre has frequently resorted to the staging of violence. As the
fragments above illustrate, violence has adopted a variety of forms in the theatre; ranging
from the narration of violent acts that are taking place offstage, as in the case of Ophelia’s
drowning, to the act actually being performed in front of the spectators. In both cases the
audience is cognisant of the fact that violence in not real. Ophelia’s death, the hanging
described by Pavlosky and the corpses tumbling down the mountain in Liddell’s work, are all
fictional. However, the effect that they purpose to have on the spectator is independent of
their real or fictitious nature. The violence that they represent is aimed at making an impact
on the audience.
The relationship between theatre and violence gives rise to questions regarding both
how violence is brought into the stage, as well as how the spectator reacts to this violence.
According to Jean Graham-Jones (1996), the reception of Eduardo Pavlovsky’s Telarañas at
its premiere was heavily influenced by the wave of violence in the country (Argentina, 1977),
and by the beginning of the dictatorship known as Proceso de Reorganización Nacional
(1976-1983). At that moment, the violence onstage could be interpreted as a reflection on the
violence in the country. The same play would prompt different reactions when staged years
later, or simply when performed outside Argentina. The violence depicted remains the same,
but its meaning is altered and subjected to different readings.
With or without a historical reference, the relationship between theatre and violence is
complex, and the effect of the violence onstage can even be more powerful than that of real
violence. In the words of Lucy Nevitt, the relationship between violence in the real world and
violence in the theatre is such that, “Paradoxically its impact can be less immediate and
strong, and less long-lasting and troubling, than the impact of some simulated violence
presented in theatres” (Nevitt, 2013: 3). Apart from its relationship with reality and the effect
over the spectator, the study of theatre and violence can also address the nature of violence
itself (physical or psychological), the forms that it adapts (murder, suicide, blackmail...) or
how violence is represented in different genres.
Violence and theatre have been tightly connected throughout history albeit adopting
different forms depending on time and place. In Ancient Greece, murder and death take place
offstage whereas Roman tragedies integrate violence as a key element of the spectacle. These
Roman tragedies, in particular those by Seneca, influenced centuries later the genre of
revenge tragedy in the English Renaissance, a genre initiated with Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish
Tragedy. Meanwhile, violence in other European theatres takes more diverse forms: from the
fencing battles in Spanish Golden Age theatre to the tragedies by Racine and Corneille.
Nineteenth-century theatre introduces a kind of violence that is legitimised by justice, as Tom
Sellar has noted (Sellar, 2005: 11).
The exploration of theatre and violence has gained even more importance in the
twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The violent events of this time have led to new forms
of violence in the theatre, ranging from the emergence of the Theatre of the
Absurd after the Second World War, to more contemporary reflections after the 9/11
attacks in New York. Twentieth-century trends placing violence at the core of the
theatrical event have also emerged. Such is the case of the in-yer-face theatre, teatro de
la memoria (‘theatre of memory,’ Floeck, 2005), or teatro de los muertos (‘theatre of
the death,’ Dubatti, 2014). Beyond theatre, artists as Marina Abramović or Chris
Burdeno have also addressed the relationship between violence and performance.
Under the light of so many expressions of theatre and violence, it is natural that
Antonin Artaud has been one of the most influential theorists of modern times, with his
book Theatre of Cruelty considering violence and cruelty in relation to theatre creation.
The representation of violence in theatre leaves the door open, as Nevitt has
commented, to think about the very nature of violence (Nevitt, 2013:6), as well as to
revisit its historical evolution and its manifestation in contemporary theatre. This
special issue of Cartaphilus welcomes proposals that continue with this reflection.
The proposals might want to address one or several of the following suggested
questions: How has the performance of violence evolved throughout theatre history?
How is violence represented in contemporary theatre? What are the aesthetics of
violence in theatre? What are the effects of violence on the spectator? Why is violence
brought to the stage? How has violence appeared in different dramatic genres? What
is the relationship between the theatrical event (from the dramatic text to
performance) and violence?
Alba Saura Clares and Isabel Guerrero
Editors of the special issue
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
AA. VV. (2002): “Teatro de la Violencia”, Primer Acto, 293 (2), 5-66.
Artaud, A. (1986): El teatro y su doble. Barcelona: Editorial Edhasa.
Balfour, M., Thompson, J. y Hughes, J. (2009): Performance in Place of War.
Greenford: Seagull.
Dollimore, J. (2010): Radical Tragedy: Religion, Ideology and Power in the Drama of
Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dubatti, J. (2014): Filosofía del teatro III. El teatro de los muertos. Buenos Aires:
Atuel.
Escudero, J. M. y Roncero López, V. (2010): La violencia en el mundo hispánico en el
Siglo de Oro. Madrid: Visor Libros.
Graham-Jones, J. (1996): “Framing the Proceso: Two Productions of Telarañas by
Eduardo Pavlovsky”, Latin American Theatre Review, 29 (2), 61-70.
Hughes, J. (2011): Performance in a Time of Terror: Critical Mimesis and the Age of
Uncertainty. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Floeck, W. (2006):“Del drama histórico al teatro de la memoria. Lucha contra el olvido
y búsqueda de identidad en el teatro español reciente”. In J. C. Romera Castillo
(Ed.), Tendencias escénicas al inicio del siglo XXI (pp. 185-210). Madrid: Visor
Libros.
Nevitt, L. (2013): Theater and Violence. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mizra, R. (2008): Teatro y violencia en la escena contemporánea. Uruguay: Ministerio
de Educación y Cultura, MEC.
Sellar, T. (2005) (coord.): “Theater and Violence”, Theater, 35 (1), Duke University
Press.
Sierz, A. (2005): In Yer Face Theatre: Interpreting New Writing for British Theatre in
the 1990s and After. University of Westminster.
GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION
This special issue of Cartaphilus welcomes contributions on any aspect of the
topic of theatre and violence. Submissions should be sent online via OJS,
(http://revistas.um.es/cartaphilus.php) before 1st October 2016. Authors should register
in the platform and send their contributions in Word format (.doc or .docx).
Contributions can be in English or Spanish. The document for submission
should include the title of the article, the complete name of the author or authors,
institutional affiliation and e-mail address. Contributions should be accompanied by a
250-word summary and 5 key words in English and Spanish. The editors can provide
the summary and keywords in Spanish for English contributions if required. Both the
abstract and the keywords should convey the essential aspects of the contribution.
FORMAT
Font Times New Roman 12, line spacing 1,5. Footnotes numbered and in Times
New Roman 10.
In-text quotations will be referenced indicating author, year (Castany, 2013).
Authors with several works published in the same year will be indicated as follows:
Castany, 2013 and, later, Castany, 2013b ... The reference list should follow APA style.
Please do not submit contributions under consideration by another editor or
published elsewhere (either in print or internet). Only original research pieces are
published by Carthapilus.
DEADLINES
Submission of originals: 1 October 2016
Acceptance of originals: 1 November 2016
Expected Publication Date: December 2016
Contact
Alba Saura Clares
[email protected]
Isabel Guerrero
[email protected]
Equipo editorial de Cartaphilus
ISSN: 1887-5238
Depósito Legal: MU-1973-2010
Directores
Vicente Cervera Salinas, Universidad de Murcia
María Dolores Adsuar Fernández, Universidad de Murcia
Mercedes Serna Arnaiz, Universidad de Barcelona
Bernat Castany Prado, Universidad de Barcelona
Comité científico
Consejo de redacción
Alfredo
Rodríguez
López-Váquez,
Universidade da Coruña
Adriana Astutti, Universidad de Rosario
Daniel Mesa Gancedo, Universidad de Zaragoza
David Viñas Piquer, Universidad de Barcelona
Fernando Moreno, Universidad de Poitiers
Francisco Jarauta Marion, Universidad de
Murcia
Jorge Chen Sham, Universidad de Costa Rica
José R. Jouve Martín, McGill University
José María Pozuelo Yvancos, Universidad de
Murcia
Liliana Tabakova, Sofía University “St. Kliment
Ohridsky”
Pedro Pérez Leal, Universidad de Geoergetown
Silvia Ruiz Otero, Universidad Iberoamericana
de México
Verónica
Salles-Reese,
Universidad
de
Georgetown
María Belén Hernández González, Universidad
de Murcia
Cecilia Enjuto Rangel, Universidad de Oregon
Francisco Javier Sánchez Martín, Universidad
de Murcia
Isabel
García
Adánez,
Universidad
Complutense de Madrid
Marta Sánchez Orense, Universidad de Murcia
Chiara Bolognese, Università di Roma “La
Spienza”
Pedro Antonio Férez Mora, Universidad de
Murcia
Pedro García-Caro, Universidad de Oregon
Raquel Velázquez Velázquez, Universidad de
Barcelona
Rosario Guarino Ortega, Universidad de Murcia