DRAMA AND DIALOGUE IN OLD ENGLISH POETRY: THE SCENE OF CYNEWULF'SJULIANA

Abstract

InThe Semiotics of Performance, Marco de Marinis notes that the field of performance studies has greatly expanded the traditional categories of drama and theatre. “It is obvious,” he writes, “that we are dealing with a field that is far broader and more varied than the category consisting exclusively oftraditional stagings of dramatic texts, to which some scholars still restrict the class of theatrical performances.” A few scholars of early theatre history have embraced expanded categories of performance. Jody Enders's “medieval theater of cruelty,” for example, rests on a concept of “atheoryof virtual performance” that translates “into actual medieval dramatic practice.” Carol Symes's study of the “dramatic activity” suggested by medieval French manuscripts identifies “a vital performative element within the surrounding culture.” Both writers have shown how new ideas of performance enlarge the category beyond the “traditional stagings” described by de Marinis.