Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen

Representations of demonic possession and exorcism rituals abound in English Renaissance drama, an area which this book seeks to illuminate by comparison with non-dramatic works. The author investigates stage images of possession in relation to a range of early modern demonological, theological and medical prose texts on the subject, looking specifically at how the theatre responded to these texts. He argues that the theatre also employed the contemporary controversy over possession and exorcism to investigate the politics of religion, and to consider the nature of monarchic power. Moreover, because demonic possession cases and exorcism rituals were frequently dismissed by conformist writers as a piece of theatre, they offered an opportunity to reflect on the nature of drama and role-playing. JAN FRANS VAN DIJKHUIZEN is lecturer and research fellow at the University of Leiden.

Demonic Possession and Exorcism in English Renaissance Drama, 1558-1642

Devil Theatre

Karl A. E.. Enenkel

The early modern period is a particularly fascinating chapter in the history of pain. This volume investigates early modern constructions of physical pain from a variety of disciplines, including religious, legal and medical history, literary criticism, philosophy, and art history.

The Sense of Suffering: Constructions of Physical Pain in Early Modern Culture

Living in Posterity, presented to Bart Westerweel on his retirement as Professor of Early Modern English literature at the University of Leiden, brings together thirty-nine essays on a wide variety of subjects and themes. The contributors, scholars from the Netherlands end abroad, have drawn inspiration from the many dualities that are characteristic of Westerweel's work, such as word/image, Anglo/Dutch, familiar/other, traditional/modern, and form/function. The result is a colourful mosaic of essays on history, culture, art and literature from the first century to the modern era. The binding theme of this richly diverse book lies in the idea of the continuity between the past and the present, the cohesion between what was and what is. As such, Living in Posterity is part of the larger project of the humanities to engage sympathetically with the past - to speak with the dead and keep history alive.

Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen

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