Historiography

Since its establishment in 1993, the Historiography Working Group has aimed to encourage critical debate on methodological and epistemological problems related to the history of theatre and performance.

KEYWORDS

• intangible culture
• cultural histories
• archives
• documentation
• digitisation
• methodologies
• global
• transnational
• post- and decolonial histories
• storytelling and legacies

 

Conveners 

Ulla Kallenbach, University of Bergen (ulla.kallenbach@uib.no)

Priyanka Basu, King's College London (priyankabasu85@gmail.com)

Lisa Skwirblies, University of Amsterdam (l.s.skwirblies@uva.nl)

 

Call for Papers 

Historiography Working Group 

International Federation for Theatre Research

 

9-13 June 2025 

Cologne, Germany

 

The IFTR Historiography Working Group will be meeting during the 2025 Conference in Cologne, Germany, 9-13 June. The Working Group welcomes papers from new and existing members dealing with any possible period or topic in theatre history, but as the group is dedicated to historiography, authors are asked to focus on the methodological and epistemological problems related to the history of theatre and performance that are raised by their work.

 

The Historiography Working Group welcomes, but does not confine itself to, papers addressing the theme of the conference, which in 2025 is Performing Carnival: Ekstasis, Subversion, Metamorphosis.The conference theme has various critical implications for theatre historiography such as the changing political and cultural significance of carnival in history, carnival history as performance history, the history of carnival as a religious and secular event, carnival as a critical lens for colonial and post-colonial historiographies, the history of the carnivalesque, etc.

 

In addition to general submissions, the Historiography Working Group invites this year specific proposals to be included in a specially-convened panel or roundtable that address the theme of intangible cultural heritage and the role of theatre historiography in protecting this cultural legacy of theatrical performance. The papers could address questions regarding the embodied practices like acting and dance as cultural heritage; historiographical perspectives on archiving theatre design, masks and costumes; institutional perspectives on theatre archives and museums; and the ways in which theatre historians might collaborate with artists on questions of intangible performance heritage..

 

The Historiography Working Group works by circulating papers to members in advance of the conference for in-depth discussion in the sessions. The aim of the group’s discussion is always to be constructive. Submissions are normally a work-in-progress linked to an author’s ongoing research project, and pre-circulated papers for our 2025 meeting should be no more than 3000 words. All papers are framed by specific historiographical questions, and authors are invited to speak for not more than ten minutes about the context in which they have written their papers, and about the points where they would particularly welcome a response. Participants take care to read all papers carefully, meaning  an oral summary is discouraged; the group spends about twenty minutes discussing each paper, and the emphasis of the discussion is on method rather than on the detail of the content.

In 2025, we also welcome traditional 20-minutepapers for working group sponsored panels in the main programme, as well as the option to participate in roundtable sessions.

 

Abstracts of 200 to 250 words should be submitted by the deadline of 15 January 2025 via the main IFTR submission portal on the Cambridge Core website (https://www.cambridge.org/core/membership/iftr/conference), indicating that you are submitting to the Historiography Working Group and noting your preferred presentation format. Please include in your abstract a clear statement about the historiographical questions raised by your work. The Working Group’s convenors will select the proposals that best fit the historiographical theme of our group, with reference to ensuring a broad balance of career stages and geographical locations among those invited. If we cannot accommodate a paper, we will refer it to the conference organisers for possible placement on a general panel.

 

The full text of the selected paper should be emailed to the convenors by 12 May 2025, for uploading to the group’s website, where further information about the group can also be found (https://theaterhistoriography.wordpress.com). 

 

Please share this all for papers with any colleagues or research students whom you think may be interested. For further information, please contact the group’s convenors. The current convenors of the Historiography Working Group are:

 

• Ulla Kallenbach, University of Bergen, Norway (ulla.kallenbach@uib.no);

• Priyanka Basu, King’s College London, (priyankabasu85@gmail.com);

• Lisa Skwirblies, University of Amsterdam (l.s.skwirblies@uva.nl).

 

WG Mission Statement

Since its establishment in 1993, the Historiography Working Group has aimed to encourage critical debate on methodological and epistemological problems related to the history of theatre and performance. Historiographical questions discussed by participants may be illustrated through specific case examples and there are no restrictions on the historical time or place a proposal might involve or on the kind of historiographical approach explored. Completed papers are circulated among participants and read in advance of the meeting, where they are discussed rather than presented. Any IFTR member is welcome to attend, observe, and submit a proposal.

 

The call for papers usually proposes a historiographical theme to encourage members to consider methodological issues in their ongoing projects. We welcome papers in all stages of development: from nascent ‘thought’ pieces to completed book chapters, although members may find it more useful in this forum to discuss earlier rather than later drafts.  Writing on the year’s theme is not required, but it is helpful for readers to know the goals and context of the work and what type of feedback the author desires.

 

The Historiography Working Group considers itself as an open forum for debate and reflection that values exchange on methodological issues and the discussion of research. Historiographical questions discussed by participants may be illustrated through specific case examples, and there are no restrictions on the historical time or place a proposal might involve or on the kind of historiographical approach explored.

 

Work Plan

 

The Historiography Working Group works by circulating papers to members in advance of the conference for in-depth discussion in the sessions. The aim of the group’s discussion is always to be constructive. Submissions are normally a work-in-progress linked to an author’s ongoing research project, and pre-circulated papers should be no more than 3000 words. All papers are framed by specific historiographical questions, and authors are invited to speak for not more than ten minutes about the context in which they have written their papers and about the points where they would particularly welcome a response. Participants take care to read all papers carefully, so an oral summary is discouraged; the group spends about twenty minutes discussing each paper, and the emphasis of the discussion is on method rather than on the detail of the content.

  

Selected Publications

  

 

Claire Cochrane and Jo Robinson (eds.) The Methuen Drama Handbook of Theatre History and Historiography, London: Bloomsbury, 2019.

 

Mechele Leon, “The Environment of Theatre: Power, Resistance, and Commerce.” In A Cultural History of Theatre in the Age of Enlightenment. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

Cia Sautter, “Ending in Dance: Ethics, Religion, and Staged Movement.” In The Performance of Religion: Seeing the Sacred in the Theatre. New York: Routledge, 2017. 

For more information about this Working Group

http://theaterhistoriography.wordpress.com