Politics and Aesthetics in European Baroque and Classicist Tragedy

Jan Bloemendal, Ph.D. (1997), Utrecht University, is senior researcher at the Huygens Institute, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research topics include neo-Latin literature, drama and Erasmus.Nigel Smith, D.Phil. (1985), University of Oxford, is William and Annie S. Paton Foundation Professor of Ancient and Modern Literature at Princeton University. Among his publications are Perfection Proclaimed: Language and Literature in English Radical Religion, 1640-1660 (1989); Literature and Revolution in England 1640-1660 (1994); Is Milton better than Shakespeare? (2008) and Andrew Marvell: The Chameleon (2010).

“The collection vividly demonstrates the appeal of tragedy, whether classicist or Baroque, to both Catholics and Protestants. Biblical, classical, and modern histories made possible the staging of thinly (or not so thinly) veiled criticism, guidance, and warnings for modern rulers—and their subjects.”Annette Tomarken, University of Kent. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 4 (Winter 2017), pp. 1622-1624.“This is a first-rate collection of articles that adds significantly to the understanding of Baroque and Classicist tragedy and its politics and aesthetics within a broad European context. It explores the nuances underlying longstanding assumptions and offers exemplary original research.”Yolanda Rodríguez Pérez, University of Amsterdam. In: Bulletin of the Comediantes, Vol. 69, No 1 (2017), pp. 123-127.“[This] collection forms a strong and timely reminder of the benefits of an international and inclusive approach to literary studies.”Astrid Stilma, Canterbury Christ Church University. In: Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal & Letterkunde, Vol. 133, No. 4 (September 2017), pp. 1-2.

• IntroductionSovereigntyFrans-Willem Korsten – What Roman Paradigm for the Dutch Republic? Baroque Tragedies and Ambiguities Concerning Dominium and TortureRuss Leo – Grotius Among the Dagonists: Joost van den Vondel’s Samson, of Heilige Wraeck, Revenge and the Ius GentiumFreya Sierhuis – Performing the Medieval Past: Vondel’s Gysbreght van Aemstel (1637)ReligionHoward B. Norland – Political Martyrdom at the English College in RomeJames A. Parente, Jr. – Historical Tragedy and the End of Christian Humanism: Nicolaus Vernulaeus (1583–1649)Blair Hoxby – The Baroque Tragedy of the Roman Jesuits: Flavia and BeyondEthicsEmily Vasiliauskas – Mortal Knowledge: Akrasia in English Renaissance TragedySarah Knight – A fabulis ad veritatem: Latin Tragedy, Truth and Education in Early Modern EnglandTatiana Korneeva – The Political Theatre and Theatrical Politics of Andrea Giacinto Cicognini: Il Don Gastone di Moncada (1641)Christian Biet – French Tragedy During the Seventeenth Century: From Cruelty on a Scaffold to Poetic Distance on Stage and Critical JudgmentMobilityJoel Lande – German Trauerspiel and its International Nexus: On the Migration of Poetic FormsHelmer Helmers – The Politics of Mobility: Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, Jan Vos’ Aran and Titus and the Poetics of EmpireNienke Tjoelker – French Classicism in Jesuit Theatre Poetics of the Eighteenth CenturyKirill Ospovat – Scenario of Terror: Royal Violence and the Origins of Russian Tragic DramaIndex