Sunday, 20 February 2011

Introductory post

This is a PhD blog. As with other blogs of a similar nature, I will be discussing the issues I encounter throughout the course of my research, including: new sources I come across, ideas I am considering, difficulties and setbacks, ethical and practical concerns, and any other notable developments. I will endeavour to be open and honest about as much of my research as I am able. I will also link to articles and images I find online which relate to the subject of my research. I'm currently in the middle of the first year of my PhD and am therefore perhaps a little late in beginning this blog, but I hope to chronicle the remainder of my work over the next few years as well as I can. I intend for this to be a resource to enable me to meditate and review the development of my work; however, if my records are of interest to anyone else, then so much the better.

My research covers representations of heroic masculinity in seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century comic drama, with a special focus on stage fighting and duelling, as well as choices in costuming and casting. I am drawing on a number of sources, especially the plays of Aphra Behn, John Vanbrugh, Henry Fielding, and Henry Carey. However, I am considering some perspectives from other sources of the period, including paintings and some novels, in order to achieve a more rounded vision of contemporary perceptions and prejudices about masculine heroic behaviour. I've found Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote to be a particularly fresh source of inspiration.

In terms of theoretical bias, I'm approaching this thesis partly (but not exclusively) from a feminist mindset. Although the discussion of women in theatre will play some part (particularly regarding female drag roles), my focus is on men and their performances on and off the stage. However, I hope that my thesis will contribute to our knowledge of gender studies - and certainly many of my questions pertain to feminist theory. This is new ground for me in some ways (my undergraduate and Master's degree dissertations were on Bakhtinian thought - and I actually began this research with a mind to applying Bakhtinian theory to the subject), and I'm very excited about it.

As this is an introductory post, I'll describe myself a little beyond the bounds of my research. My name is Máire and I'm twenty-four. I spend a lot of my time reading. Outside of my research topic, my areas of interest are American literature and history (particularly of Appalachia and of the interwar period), children's literature 1900-1930 and 1960-1990, fairy tales and folklore, and true crime. My favourite books are Vanity Fair and Tender is the Night. My favourite plays (which is a dangerous question to answer!) are Othello and The Dragon of Wantley. I've yet to see the latter performed but would love to.

Other than reading I'm interested in architecture, watching films, visiting museums, boxing, listening to jazz/blues/country music, old comic strips and cartoons, and travelling. I support myself by working as a children's bookseller in London. I'd like to live in Paris one day.

That's all from me for now. I'll post my next update within the next few days.

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