CFP: Practices of Reading (German) Opera, GSA panel, Denver, Oct 2013

Practices of Reading (German) Opera

Panel Proposal for the German Studies Association (GSA), 37th Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, October 3-6, 2013.https://www.thegsa.org/conference/cfp.html

In his introduction to Reading Opera, (ed. Arthur Groos and Roger Parker, 1988) Groos calls for a liberation of the opera libretto from the prejudices that deemed it unworthy of academic inquiry, especially in the German-speaking tradition.  By elevating the libretto to a legitimate object of study, and inviting a “broad spectrum of reading strategies,” Groos and Parker signaled an important shift in opera studies.  Opera scholars grew increasingly concerned with practices of reading that fleshed out competing modes of referentiality, and the endless interplay between the musical, literary, and dramatic aspects of the art form.

Celebrating 25 years of Reading Opera, this panel invites papers that illustrate, interrogate, and/or reflect upon practices of reading (German) opera.

•How have modes of reading opera changed or expanded, and how have practices of reading evolved as the concept of reading has changed?
•How has reading opera influenced performance practices, and led to new ways of their interpretation?
•Has the practice of reading opera contributed to, interfered with, or been largely replaced by other epistemological models such as viewing and listening?
•Can the practice of reading opera involve types of sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, and to what extent are epistemological models such as viewing and listening dependent upon practices of reading?
•How does reading opera draw attention to the medial aspects of the operatic art form, and how have the practices of reading other media (such as film, television, or radio) informed reading opera?
•Has drawing attention to the importance of reading opera changed the role that opera plays in departments of national literatures and cultures?  Given that the methodology of opera studies has expanded to become largely interdisciplinary, what role can German opera play in the field of German Studies?

Please send abstracts of up to 300 words to Michelle Duncan, mrdphd at gmail.com, by February 11, 2013.