Early modern audiences, readerships, and viewerships were not homogenous. Differences in status, education, language, wealth, and experience (to name only a few variables) could influence how a group of people, or a particular person, received and made sense of sermons, public proclamations, dramatic and musical performances, images, objects, and spaces. The ways in which each of these were framed and executed could have a serious impact on their relevance and effectiveness. The chapters in this volume explore the ways in which authors, poets, artists, preachers, theologians, playwrights, and performers took account of and encoded pluriform potential audiences, readers, and viewers in their works, and how these varied parties encountered and responded to these works. The contributors here investigate these complex interactions through a variety of critical and methodological lenses.

Cover -- Half Title -- Titel Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1 "Unquiet all night": Curtain Lectures and a Wife's Speech to Her Husband -- 2 "Their whispers, one in another's ear": Imagining Private Speech Between Women -- 3 "I know thy thoughts": Witches Speak to Their Audiences -- 4 Regret, Reconsideration, and Reclamation: Audiences Witness Women's Death Speech -- Afterword -- Index

The so-called travels of Sir John Mandeville to the Holy Land, India and Cathay were immensely popular throughout Europe during the late medieval period and were translated into nine different languages. This is a detailed study of the audiences of Mandeville's Book, with particular emphasis on its reception in England and France from the time the Book appeared in the 1350s to the mid-16th century. The multiple ways in which audiences interpreted the work, depending on wider social and cultural contexts, are analysed thematically, under the headings of pilgrimage, geography, romance, history and theology, and contrasted with what can be learned of the author's intentions. The book is well-illustrated with images taken from both manuscript and early printed editions: in her study of these and the marginal notes, Rosemary Tzanaki shows their importance for seeing what readers found of interest. Her analysis makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how people in medieval Europe perceived the outside world.

Cognitive Approaches to Early Modern Spanish Literature is the first anthology exploring human cognition and literature in the context of early modern Spanish culture. It includes the leading voices in the field, along with the main themes and directions that this important area of study has been producing. The book begins with an overview of the cognitive literary studies research that has been taking place within early modern Spanish studies over the last fifteen years. Next, it traces the creation of self in the context of the novel, focusing on Cervantes's Don Quixote in relation to the notions of embodiment and autopoiesis as well as the faculties of memory and imagination as understood in early modernity. It continues to explore the concept of embodiment, showing its relevance to delve into the mechanics of the interaction between actors and audience both in the jongleuresque and the comedia traditions. It then centers on cognitive theories of perception, the psychology of immersion in fictional worlds, and early modern and modern-day notions of intentionality to discuss the role of perceiving and understanding others in performance, Don Quixote, and courtly conduct manuals. The last section focuses on the affective dimension of audience-performer interactions in the theatrical space of the Spanish corrales and how emotion and empathy can inform new approaches to presenting Las Casas's work in the literature classroom. The volume closes with an afterword offering strategies to design a course on mind and literature in early modernity.

This updated, new edition of Introducing Cultural Studies provides a systematic and comprehensible introduction to the concepts, debates and latest research in the field. Reinforcing the interdisciplinary nature of Cultural Studies, the authors first guide the reader through cultural theory before branching out to examine different dimensions of culture in detail – including globalisation, the body, geography, fashion, and politics. Incorporating new scholarship and international examples, this new edition includes: New and improved 'Defining Concepts', 'Key Influences', 'Example ', and 'Spotlight' features that probe deeper into the most significant ideas, theorists and examples, ensuring you obtain an in-depth understanding of the subject. A brand new companion website featuring a flashcard glossary, web links, discussion and essay questions to stimulate independent study. A new-look text design with over 60 pictures and tables draws all these elements together in an attractive, accessible design that makes navigating the book, and the subject, simple and logical. Introducing Cultural Studies will be core reading for Cultural Studies undergraduates and postgraduates, as well as an illuminating guide for those on Communication and Media Studies, English, Sociology, and Social Studies courses looking for a clear overview of the field.

This important study is the first to offer a sustained look at a variety of early modern Yiddish masterworks--and their writers and readers--paying particular attention to their treatment of supernatural themes and beings.

The first in-depth analysis of how early modern people produced and consumed images of revolts and political violence, drawing on evidence from Russia, China, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, North America and other regions.