Sources II: Drama
Introduction
European theatre grew out of the ecstatic cult of Dionysos (Bacchus) in Antiquity. Ever since, folklore has always been an important source for drama. With technological advances, this has continued in film, television, and now online streaming. Folklore-inspired drama has always been very popular. As well as reflecting the cultures of societies, it has helped to shape these cultures. The number of filmed, televised, and streamed dramas inspired by folklore is vast, but a selection is listed here. In this seminar, we will discuss how drama has drawn upon folklore and how we can use drama as a source for the study of folklore.
Seminar Question
- How can drama be used as a source for the study of folklore?
Required Reading and Viewing
'Et in Arcadia Ego: British Folk Horror Film and Television', in , ed. Matthew Cheeseman and Carina Hart (London, 2022), pp. 205-218
- You should each choose and watch a film, a play, or a series which is based on folklore from Europe (including the British Isles). You can choose one of the items listed here or you can select another of your own choice which is located in Europe (including the British Isles). In the seminar, you will explain how folklore is used in your choice.
Further Reading
Arvidsson, Stefan, ' in The Cambridge Companion to Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, ed. M. Berry and N. Vazsonyi (Cambridge, 2020), pp. 70-82
Barber, C. L., Shakespeare's Festive Comedy: A Study of Dramatic Form and its Relation to Social Custom, with a new foreword by Stephen Greenblatt (Princeton, NJ, 2012)
Brody, Alan, The English Mummers and their Plays: Traces of Ancient Mystery (Philadelphia, 1970)
Easterling, P. E, 'A Show for Dionysos', in P.E. Easterling (ed.), (Cambridge, 1997), 36-53.
Edgar, Robert, and Wayne Johnson, eds, (London, 2023)
Johnston, Derek, (Houndmills, 2015)
Koven, Mikel J., '', The Journal of American Folklore 116/460 (2003), 176–195.
Laroque, Fran莽ois, Shakespeare's Festive World: Elizabethan Seasonal Entertainment and the Professional Stage, trans. Janet Lloyd (Cambridge, 1991)
Mills, David, Recycling the Cycle: The City of Chester and Its Whitsun Plays (Toronto, 1998)
'', Folklore 130/2, (2019), 133-152
Schneider, Hermann, '', German Life and Letters 3 (1939), 161-171
Seaford, Richard, (Abingdon, 2006)
Scovell, Adam, (Leighton Buzzard, 2017)
Short, Sue, (Basingstoke, 2014)
Zipes, Jack, (London, 2010)
Zipes, Jack, Pauline Greenhill, and Kendra Magnus-Johnston, eds, (New York, 2015)
Electronic Resources
Euripides, (BBC, 1984)
Bettany Hughes, (BBC, 2018)