Call for Papers “Shakespeare’s Auditory History: Listening to the Sounds of Early Modern Theatre” Seminar

European Shakespeare Research Association – ESRA
Conference dates: 9-12 July 2025

Please send an abstract (200-300 words) and a brief biography (100-150 words) to the convenors:

Antonio Arnieri (UAB – Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona) [email protected]
Alexandra Siso (University of Sheffield) [email protected]

Submission deadline: December 2nd, 2024, 11:59 CET.

Acceptance notifications will be given on December 16th along with details of format and next steps.

We are thrilled to announce the call for papers for the seminar “Shakespeare’s Auditory History: Listening to the Sounds of Early Modern Theatre” that will take place at the 2025 European Shakespeare Research Association (ESRA) Conference Shakespeare and Time, hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Porto (https://esra2025.com/).

Seminar details:

A paramount feature of Shakespeare’s Theatre is the pervasiveness of sound and music for the dramatic impact and success of its plays. Sound in Shakespeare’s plays can work as a vehicle of (and for) meanings and contexts, and scholars can use it as an instrument to question the epistemological concepts generated on the stage and on the page. Shakespeare’s awareness of the aural dimension of reality unveils a process of appropriation and re-elaboration of the theory and lexicon connected to sound and music.

Our seminar aims to examine Shakespeare’s works to develop and foster new methodologies that highlight a critical sense of hearing and the early modern perception of sound. Through dialogues across disciplines, the seminar will provide deeper hermeneutical insights to enrich our understanding of Shakespeare’s dramaturgical world. We invite readers to contemplate on the different modes of listening in Shakespeare’s time and to reach an auditory awareness that situates and identifies sound beyond a merely acoustic phenomenon.

Ultimately, the seminar seeks to develop innovative approaches to experiencing the sounds of the past and build a bridge between the past and the present by putting ourselves ‘in the ears’ of the early modern theatre’s audiences.

Further details about the seminar can be found at: https://esra2025.com/seminars/