MLA special session invites papers exploring the influence of Cervantes on early modern English drama. How did English playwrights in the seventeenth century translate, adapt, rewrite, and transport Cervantes onto the London stage? Papers that investigate theatrical adaptations of Cervantes's work beyond Don Quijote are especially welcome, as are papers that redefine and/or broaden our understanding of "translation." This session will consider questions such as: what do English translations or adaptations of Cervantes reveal about Anglo-Spanish relations during the period, about cross-cultural textual exchange, and about the political and ideological uses of translation? How does transnational literary exchange contribute to the development of new dramatic modes and genres, and to the development of so-called "national" literatures?
Please send 250-word abstract and brief bio by 2 March 2015 to Josephine Hardman (jhardman@english.umass.edu).