Call for Statements 2023
CFP Shakespeare-Seminar 2023
Shakespeare’s Libraries
2023 marks the 400th anniversary of Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, &
Tragedies, known as the First Folio, published in 1623. It included 36 plays, some of which
had not been published before. On the website of The Folger Shakespeare Library readers
are invited to “learn more about Shakespeare’s language, life, and the world he knew,”
suggesting that we might be able to unlock, or at least better understand, Shakespeare’s works
by studying what he and his contemporaries not only read but also saw or heard. In the preface
to his edition of Shakespeare’s works, Samuel Johnson ventured, “There are a few passages
which may pass for imitations, but so few that the exception only confirms the rule; he obtained
them from accidental quotations, or by oral communication” (Preface). Johnson’s comment
arguably makes a claim for Shakespeare’s ‘originality’, but it also draws attention to the
importance of hearsay and oral transmission for the production and reception of
Shakespeare’s works – ‘libraries’ that we can access only indirectly at best. Geoffrey
Bullough’s multivolume Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare remains the most
comprehensive attempt to document similarities between Shakespeare’s works and texts that
may or may not have been available to the author, albeit one that focuses on written works.
Much has been written about ‘Shakespeare’s books’, and the notes in critical editions attest to
the enormous spectrum and continued interest in possible sources. But what counts as a
source? Digitalisation has opened a new chapter in this debate and discussions about
authorship in early modern England continue to change the way we think about Shakespeare’s
libraries.
The Shakespeare Seminar 2023 invites participants to revisit this historic moment in
Shakespeare studies and consider the legacy of the First Folio under the title ‘Shakespeare’s
libraries.’ We invite papers that deal with the idea of the library both in a narrow and in a wider
sense of the word. That is, we invite participants to consider critical debates about
Shakespeare and source studies but also about libraries and archives today, including digital
libraries and archives, and how they provide access to Shakespeare. Topics may include, but
are not restricted to
• First Folio(s), quartos, editions, collections, printers, editors, bookmakers
• reading in early modern England and Shakespeare’s first readers
• from page to stage and from stage to page
• orality and book culture
• book history and book studies
• Shakespeare’s books/libraries/sources
• Shakespeare as library – quoting Shakespeare now and then
• contemporary Shakespeare libraries, digital archives, and approaches to Shakespeare
• visual and performance libraries as ways of accessing repertoires not based on script
Our seminar plans to address these issues with a panel of six papers during the annual
conference of the German Shakespeare Association, Shakespeare-Tage, which is scheduled
to take place from 21–23 April 2023 in Weimar, Germany. As critical input for the discussion,
we invite papers of no more than 15 minutes that present concrete case studies, concise
examples and strong views on the topic. Please send your proposals (abstracts of 300 words)
by 31 December 2022 to the seminar convenors
Dr. Lukas Lammers, Free University Berlin: l.lammers@fu-berlin.de
Dr. Kirsten Sandrock, University of Göttingen: ksandrock@phil.uni-goettingen.de
The Seminar provides a forum for established as well as young scholars to discuss texts and
contexts. Participants of the seminar will subsequently be invited to submit (extended versions
of) their papers for publication in Shakespeare Seminar Online (SSO). For more information,
please contact Kirsten Sandrock and Lukas Lammers. For more information about the events
and publications also see: https://shakespeare-gesellschaft.de/?lang=en.
Tragedies, known as the First Folio, published in 1623. It included 36 plays, some of which
had not been published before. On the website of The Folger Shakespeare Library readers
are invited to “learn more about Shakespeare’s language, life, and the world he knew,”
suggesting that we might be able to unlock, or at least better understand, Shakespeare’s works
by studying what he and his contemporaries not only read but also saw or heard. In the preface
to his edition of Shakespeare’s works, Samuel Johnson ventured, “There are a few passages
which may pass for imitations, but so few that the exception only confirms the rule; he obtained
them from accidental quotations, or by oral communication” (Preface). Johnson’s comment
arguably makes a claim for Shakespeare’s ‘originality’, but it also draws attention to the
importance of hearsay and oral transmission for the production and reception of
Shakespeare’s works – ‘libraries’ that we can access only indirectly at best. Geoffrey
Bullough’s multivolume Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare remains the most
comprehensive attempt to document similarities between Shakespeare’s works and texts that
may or may not have been available to the author, albeit one that focuses on written works.
Much has been written about ‘Shakespeare’s books’, and the notes in critical editions attest to
the enormous spectrum and continued interest in possible sources. But what counts as a
source? Digitalisation has opened a new chapter in this debate and discussions about
authorship in early modern England continue to change the way we think about Shakespeare’s
libraries.
The Shakespeare Seminar 2023 invites participants to revisit this historic moment in
Shakespeare studies and consider the legacy of the First Folio under the title ‘Shakespeare’s
libraries.’ We invite papers that deal with the idea of the library both in a narrow and in a wider
sense of the word. That is, we invite participants to consider critical debates about
Shakespeare and source studies but also about libraries and archives today, including digital
libraries and archives, and how they provide access to Shakespeare. Topics may include, but
are not restricted to
• First Folio(s), quartos, editions, collections, printers, editors, bookmakers
• reading in early modern England and Shakespeare’s first readers
• from page to stage and from stage to page
• orality and book culture
• book history and book studies
• Shakespeare’s books/libraries/sources
• Shakespeare as library – quoting Shakespeare now and then
• contemporary Shakespeare libraries, digital archives, and approaches to Shakespeare
• visual and performance libraries as ways of accessing repertoires not based on script
Our seminar plans to address these issues with a panel of six papers during the annual
conference of the German Shakespeare Association, Shakespeare-Tage, which is scheduled
to take place from 21–23 April 2023 in Weimar, Germany. As critical input for the discussion,
we invite papers of no more than 15 minutes that present concrete case studies, concise
examples and strong views on the topic. Please send your proposals (abstracts of 300 words)
by 31 December 2022 to the seminar convenors
Dr. Lukas Lammers, Free University Berlin: l.lammers@fu-berlin.de
Dr. Kirsten Sandrock, University of Göttingen: ksandrock@phil.uni-goettingen.de
The Seminar provides a forum for established as well as young scholars to discuss texts and
contexts. Participants of the seminar will subsequently be invited to submit (extended versions
of) their papers for publication in Shakespeare Seminar Online (SSO). For more information,
please contact Kirsten Sandrock and Lukas Lammers. For more information about the events
and publications also see: https://shakespeare-gesellschaft.de/?lang=en.