Our seminar at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America explored “animal encounters” in Shakespearean archives. In some ways, the seminar evolved from Karl’s review of Laurie Shannon’s The Accommodated Animal (Chicago, 2012). Hers is an excellent book and his is a thoughtful critique: Shannon unpacks how early modernity emerged in a shared, contested space with “animals,” though in doing so (according to Karl), she risks homogenizing the cultures that come before and after it.
I am working (with Scott Maisano) on a book that explores the long history of simian mimicry and I am convinced that the sixteenth century did mark a sharp difference in the attitudes about simian bodies compared to before and after it. But I am also thinking more and more about the depressing congruence between animal actors in the renaissance and in our own entertainment industries. I wanted to sit down and hash this out in person with Karl, Laurie, and others whose work I respect. Karl was gracious enough to partner with me on this seminar and Professor Shannon promised to attend.
A fantastic group of scholars from all stages of the profession also signed up to join us, including Brett Mizelle, a historian of 19thcentury American history and the editor of H-animal, Tobias Menely, a literary critic of the Enlightenment and author of The Animal Claim (Chicago, 2014), and of course Miranda Nesler, who invited us to collaborate with PH’s readers in this endeavour. I am grateful to all of them.
Many of the questions that are key to our work on animals—precarity and vulnerability; hierarchies of power; and the political, economic and material implications of shared spaces in which we work—also define the conditions of labour in North American universities. Most of us couldn't afford to travel to Vancouver for this conference (or couldn't leave our small children to do so) and the Shakespeare Association of America (as hospitable an academic home as I’ve experienced in this profession) foolishly does not allow virtual participation in the seminars. Four participants withdrew early on and I’m sure many more didn’t even apply due to these circumstances. In my opinion, it’s time to change this policy.
I hope that this format and our ongoing discussions online will help demonstrate one way to do this, allowing us connect with a much wider audience than just Shakespeare scholars! I’ll be continuing to tweet about all of these issue (@trickyholly). Say hello!
__________________________________________________
Performing Humanity is proud to partner with Dr.'s Dugan and Steel in their work, and we encourage you to check back in the coming weeks for more discussion -- including work from other seminar members.
As always, you can join the conversation on Twitter as well. Dr. Holly Dugan (@trickyholly) and our editor Dr. Miranda Nesler (@PerformHumanity) will be engaging the hashtags #shakeass15 and #animalstudies for your thoughts.
Conversations at PH are never limited to academic participants. Be sure to join us!
__________________________________________________
About Our Guest Contributor:
Holly Dugan is an Associate Professor of English at Geaorge Washington University. Her research and teaching interests explore relationships between history, literature, and material culture. Her scholarship focuses on questions of gender, sexuality, the boundaries of the body, and the role of the senses in late medieval and early modern England. She is currently working on a book-length project, co-authored with Scott Maisano that examines the pre-modern history of primatology through the lens of Shakespeare.