ENGLISH

Murder by Accident: Medieval Theater, Modern Media, Critical Intentions

By Jody Enders

Book information

Year
2009
ISBN
0226207838, 9780226207834, 9780226207858
LCC
PN2152 .E544 2009
Open Library ID
OL22672260M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
772 kB (790260 bytes)
Pages
312\310
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

Over fifty years ago, it became unfashionable—even forbidden—for students of literature to talk about an author’s intentions for a given work. In Murder by Accident, Jody Enders boldly resurrects the long-disgraced concept of intentionality, especially as it relates to the theater. Drawing on four fascinating medieval events in which a theatrical performance precipitated deadly consequences, Enders contends that the marginalization of intention in critical discourse is a mirror for the marginalization—and misunderstanding—of theater. Murder by Accident revisits the legal, moral, ethical, and aesthetic limits of the living arts of the past, pairing them with examples from the present, whether they be reality television, snuff films, the “accidental” live broadcast of a suicide on a Los Angeles freeway, or an actor who jokingly fired a stage revolver at his temple, causing his eventual death. This book will force scholars and students to rethink their assumptions about theory, intention, and performance, both past and present.   (20080625)

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