The English Renaissance Stage: Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial Arts 1580-1630OUP Oxford, 2006 M02 23 - 344 pages Drawing on entirely new evidence, The English Renaissance Stage: Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial Arts 1580-1630 examines the history of English dramatic form and its relationship to the mathematics, technology, and early scientific thought during the Renaissance period. The book demonstrates how practical modes of thinking that were typical of the sixteenth century resulted in new genres of plays and a new vocabulary for problems of poetic representation. In the epistemological moment the book recovers, we find new ideas about form and language that would become central to Renaissance literary discourse; in this same moment, too, we find new ways of thinking about the relationship between theory and practice that are typical of modernity, new attitudes towards spatial representation, and a new interest in both poetics and mathematics as distinctive ways of producing knowledge about the world. By emphasizing the importance of theatrical performance, the book engages with continuing debates over the cultural function of the early modern stage and with scholarship on the status of modern authorship. When we consider playwrights in relation to the theatre rather than the printed book, they appear less as 'authors' than as figures whose social position and epistemological presuppositions were very similar to the craftsmen, surveyors, and engineers who began to flourish during the sixteenth century and whose mathematical knowledge made them increasingly sought after by men of wealth and power. |
From inside the book
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Page vii
... arguments that follow and to indicate their relevance to scholars working in different historical periods, cultural ... argument, an interest in mathematics as a distinctive system for producing knowledge about the natural and social ...
... arguments that follow and to indicate their relevance to scholars working in different historical periods, cultural ... argument, an interest in mathematics as a distinctive system for producing knowledge about the natural and social ...
Page ix
... argument, it is in the forms these disciplines produce, analyse, and value that their history may be traced—a ... arguments, theoretical methods, and organization. Although the remainder of the book has been divided into two sections—the ...
... argument, it is in the forms these disciplines produce, analyse, and value that their history may be traced—a ... arguments, theoretical methods, and organization. Although the remainder of the book has been divided into two sections—the ...
Page 3
... arguments of Sidney or any number of Continental writers. In the 'Prologue' that he wrote for Old Fortunatus' public performance at the Rose sometime in December 1599 or early in 1600, Dekker seems to have in mind the claims for 'heroic ...
... arguments of Sidney or any number of Continental writers. In the 'Prologue' that he wrote for Old Fortunatus' public performance at the Rose sometime in December 1599 or early in 1600, Dekker seems to have in mind the claims for 'heroic ...
Page 4
... arguments concerning allegory in his Gerusalemme Liberata (1581). Both are fitting theoretical reference points for the peculiar mixture of romance, morality play, and masque that follows, in which the figure of Fortune offers Old ...
... arguments concerning allegory in his Gerusalemme Liberata (1581). Both are fitting theoretical reference points for the peculiar mixture of romance, morality play, and masque that follows, in which the figure of Fortune offers Old ...
Page 5
... argument as explicitly as possible: And for this smal Circumference must stand, For the imagind Sur-face of much land, Of many kingdomes, and since many a mile, Should here be measurd out: our muse intreats, Your thoughts to helpe poore ...
... argument as explicitly as possible: And for this smal Circumference must stand, For the imagind Sur-face of much land, Of many kingdomes, and since many a mile, Should here be measurd out: our muse intreats, Your thoughts to helpe poore ...
Other editions - View all
The English Renaissance Stage:Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial ... Henry S. Turner No preview available - 2006 |
The English Renaissance Stage: Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial ... Henry S. Turner No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
action analysis appear argues argument Aristotle arts aspects authority become building century Chapter character cited classical contemporary conventions critical Dekker demonstrate derived describe discussion distinct draw early early-modern effect English entire epistemological field figure finally follows formal geometry George Puttenham Harvey iconic ideas imagination important interest invention Jonson kind knowledge language later lines literary London mathematical matter meaning measurement mechanical methods mode nature necessary notion object offers particular passage performance period philosophy play plot poesy poet poetic position possible practical principles printed problems production provides reader reading reasoning reference relationship remains representation requires rhetoric rules scene sense Sidney Sidney’s signified similar simply social space spatial specific stage structure techniques theatre theatrical things thinking thought translation units universal writing