The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation seeks essays on for a special issue on theater and theatricality in the long eighteenth century. In an era that witnessed continued and frequently successful attacks on the stage, the scope of "theater" spread from the playhouse to encompass many domains of culture. We are interested in essays on the material conditions and ideological location of the eighteenth-century theater as well as on the significance of cultural and cross-cultural performances of all kinds. And we hope for essays that bring new kinds of evidence and methodological frameworks to bear on how the"play" taken to be inherent to performance actually does "work" in a variety of cultural domains: the state, the home, the public sphere, the family, the nation, the person.
Contributions sought from writers in all disciplines that touch on issues of theater and performance: literature, theater, philosophy, art history, architecture, music, economics, andanthropology.
Papers should be no longer than 7,500 words. Deadline April 1, 2002. Inquiries and papers to John O'Brien, Department of English, University of Virginia, P. O. Box 400121, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121,jobrien@virginia.edu