Enacting Nationhood: Identity, Ideology and the Theatre, 1855-99
This is a collection of new essays opening introspective space for further exploration into constructions of “We the People…” during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. It does so by interrogating intersections of pro-enslavement and anti-enslavement expressions of cultural nationalism, investigating assorted expressions of partisanship within dramatic literature and live performance (broadly defined), and by probing effects of armed conflict on notions of “nation,” “theatre,” “performance,” and other markers of communal identity. Enacting Nationhood is distinctive in that the essays collected here call into question many widely-held assumptions about the intricate theatrical past of the period under review. This said, the essays in this collection are certainly not to be taken as a comprehensive set of viewpoints. Rather, they are to be understood as an accompanying voice in a continuing discussion regarding an ever-shifting aesthetic contract between cultural nationalism and dramatic literature and live performance (broadly defined) from 1855–1899.
Scott R. Irelan is Associate Professor and Chairperson of Theater and Dance at Youngstown State University. He received the 2007 Robert A. Schanke Award from the Mid-America Theatre Conference. His work has appeared in Modernism/Modernity, Shakespeare Bulletin, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre Annual, and Theatre History Studies, among others.
“While Enacting Nationhood joins numerous theatre and performance history texts in exploring the construction and dissemination of national identity in the United States during the nineteenth century, this text also fills a gap in theatre historiography by creating a space of inquiry in which performances of Northern and Southern identities are considered. The essays in this volume chart several theatrical activities and texts through which Americans grappled with ideas of nationhood during the American Civil War era. The text offers new and complex insights to performance practices about Northern and Southern identity formations by addressing “forgotten” performers, practices, and texts and calling into question many widely-held assumptions about the theatrical past during this period. This volume enriches and enhances historiographic conversations regarding nineteenth-century theatre and performance in the United States.”
—Heidi L. Nees, California Polytechnic State University
Noreen C. Barnes
Thomas Campbell
Anne Fletcher
Amy E. Hughes
Scott Magelssen
Elizabeth Reitz Mullenix
Jenna Neilsen
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