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<div class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Please forward
to any and all individuals and lists:</span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br
class="khtml-block-placeholder">
</span></font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">CALL
FOR PAPERS</span></font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">FOR
A PANEL AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">THE
ASSOCIATION FOR CANADIAN THEATRE RESEARCH</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">YORK
UNIVERSITY MAY 27 TO 30, 2006</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>A
Tyranny of Documents:</b></span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b> </b></span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>The Theatre Historian as Film Noir
Detective</b></span></font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Proposals
are invited that examine one document--and one only--that has been
particularly troublesome to the researcher.</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The emphasis should be on the work of
the historian as detective in the archive, and on the difficult balance
sought between respect for documentary evidence, the need to generate
significance from it, and the natural-but-dangerous tendency to smooth
out the rough edges of evidence.</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">This
call is looking for <b>ten-minute</b></span></font></span><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> explorations
of one document along <b>'microhistorical' </b></span></font></span><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">lines (outlined
below), for a larger number of panelists than usual in a ninety-minute
session.</span></font><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">
</span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">It welcomes
proposals from scholars early in their careers, and from seasoned
veterans; the area of research is not restricted.</span></font><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Please send proposals of no more than
250 words, along with a brief biography, to Stephen Johnson at the
University of Toronto (<a href="mailto:stephen.johnson@utoronto.ca">stephen.johnson@utoronto.ca</a>).</span></font><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Copy in the body of the email, please.</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Deadline
for submission is March 1.</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span></span><span
style="" lang="EN-CA"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The organizer
welcomes questions in advance of submitting a proposal.</span></font><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Please be aware that ACTR members may
only present one paper at the annual conference; this call is intended
for those not otherwise engaged.</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>Premise
of the Panel--Microhistory:</b></span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b> </b></span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b><O:P></O:P></b></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The
problems and pitfalls of writing theatre history in the 21st century
were usefully discussed by Tom Postlewait in 'Writing History Today' (<i>Theatre
Survey</i></span></font></span><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> Nov 2000); he suggests that
practitioners of theatre history look closely at the 'microhistorical'
direction in historical research, as particularly well-suited to the
discipline.</span></font><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">
</span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Microhistory
tends toward the micro-scopic examination of the individual event and
document, in an effort to tease out of minimum evidence a complex set
of relationships; in his phrase, this is history 'in the Chekhovian
mode.'</span></font><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">
</span></font></span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">More
particularly, microhistory values what its practitioners call the
'opaque document' or 'the exceptional normal'--in fact, suggesting that
the most irritating documents are the most valuable precisely because
they are 'opaque.'</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">It is the joke we don't 'get' that
exposes the cracks in our own preconceptions of a society; our effort
to understand it, with any luck, enriches our understanding.</span></font><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">This
is all well and good; but theatre historians are particularly inclined
by necessity to make much of little, and there are dangers.</span></font><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">The documentary evidence--in particular
for such an ephemeral art as theatre--can be so 'opaque' as to be
incomprehensible, and the patterns among them so apparently arbitrary
that there can be no resolution.</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Microhistory may favour the
ironic-but-humanistic mode of Chekhov, but in our darker moments in the
archive, this gives way to Beckett, and interpretation fails.</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><font class="Apple-style-span"
size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">If
the historian is a detective, the model is, sometimes, less Hercule
Poirot than Mike Hammer in the film <i>Kiss Me, Deadly</i></span></font></span><span
style=""><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">--who </span></font></span><span
style="" lang="EN-CA"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">can’t begin to
realize the implications of the mystery he’s trying to solve, but who
can’t stop himself from following the clues.</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">See Postlewait's article for reference
(available on line).</span></font><span style=""><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span></font></span><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Also 'On Microhistory,' by Giovanni
Levi, in <i>New Perspectives on Historical Writing</i></span></font></span><span
style="" lang="EN-CA"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;">, ed. Peter
Burke (Polity 91), 93-113; and the very useful 'Microhistory: Two or
Three Things I Know About It,' by Carlo Ginzburg (<i>Critical Inquiry</i></span></font></span><span
style="" lang="EN-CA"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14.6667px;"> 20:1 Autumn
93), 10-35 (available on line).</span></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span"
style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><O:P></O:P></span></font></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-CA"> <O:P></O:P></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
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