Newly Published: Etudes Epistémè (33): Profane Shakespeare

Dear colleagues,

We are very pleased to announce the publication of Etudes Epistémè (33): “Profane Shakespeare – Perfection, Pollution and the Truth of Performance,” (https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/2445)

Edited by Anne-Marie Miller-Blaise, Karen Britland et Line Cottegnies, with contributions by Stella Achilleos, Sophie Emma Battell, Sophie Chiari, John Gillies, Sean H. McDowell, Clotilde Thouret and Harvey Wiltshire.

The focus in the present collection of articles was born from a double sense of urgency, one prompted by a global context marked by the resurgence of religious discourses on purity and condemnations of alleged impurity, and, on a smaller scale, by a critical context which has led to the polarization of the debate around Shakespeare’s religious beliefs. This collection argues that the playwright and poet situates his own truth elsewhere, in his art of poetry and drama, and in the time and act of performance, rather than in any sort of religious affiliation or eschatological horizon, which imply the notions of completion and perfection as well as a belief in unchanging truth. If Shakespeare so broadly and keenly “speaks to us” to this day, it is perhaps because of how profane his art is.

Founded in 2002, Etudes Epistémè (https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/) is an electronic, international, peer-reviewed, MLA-indexed, OpenEdition-distributed journal, devoted to the study of 16th to 18th century European literature and culture. It is bi-annual (Spring and Autumn) and publishes thematic issues with a stress on multidisciplinarity. The journal issues specific calls for contributions but also welcomes individual articles. It is an open-access and independently-managed journal.

We hope you enjoy this issue, with best wishes,

Christine Sukic

Professor of Early Modern English Literature
Editor-in-chief of Etudes Epistémè
(https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/)
c.sukic@orange.fr