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Dori Coblentz

Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage: Artful Devices

Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage: Artful Devices

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  • More about Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage: Artful Devices


Fencing, Form and Cognition on the Early Modern Stage argues that playwrights looked to fencing theory and performance for physical cues and formal structure, and that historical and formal elements of plays and fencing manuals reveal previously unnoticed shared strategies for teaching timing and judgment. It excavates an underexplored archive of fencing Italian, English, and German fencing texts and brings to bear their explicit instruction on teaching timing and judgment to early modern drama. This intervention in Shakespeare and Jonson scholarship provides critical new insights into the plots, pacing and characterisation of drama and attends to the ethical and pedagogical work displayed and accomplished by fencing and dramatic devices.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 16 August 2023
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press


Playwrights drew on fencing theory and performance for physical cues and formal structure, according to the book. It offers alternative historical interpretations of judgment training that are relevant to contemporary pedagogical contexts. The book analyzes historical and formal aspects of plays and fencing manuals to uncover previously unnoticed shared strategies for teaching timing. It also excavates an underexplored archive of fencing Italian, English, and German fencing texts, which provide explicit instruction on teaching timing and judgment to early modern drama. The book intervenes in current scholarship on Shakespeare and Jonson to motivate misunderstood plotting and pacing decisions. It demonstrates an underexplored archive of Italian, English and German fencing texts, which were designed explicitly to teach tempo and judgement. This intervention in Shakespeare and Jonson scholarship provides critical new insights into the plots, pacing and characterisation of drama and attends to the ethical and pedagogical work displayed and accomplished by fencing and dramatic devices. It yields a robust theory of active waiting and brings the imbrications of appropriate timing and ethical decision-making to the fore.


Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781474482271

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