Health and Wellbeing in Shakespeare (Special Issue of the journal Shakespeare)

Guest editor: Joan Fitzpatrick (Loughborough University, UK)

Length of submissions: 6,000 – 9,000 words

Deadline for abstracts (200 - 250 words): March 31, 2023

Deadline for final copy submission: September 29, 2023

contact email: j.fitzpatrick@lboro.ac.uk

The early modern interest in physical and psychological health and the ramifications of illness is everywhere apparent in Shakespeare’s writings. Throughout his plays and poems, Shakespeare explores the origins and effects of disruptions to physical and psychological wellbeing. Both literally and metaphorically, Shakespeare’s writing considers those aspects of human health and wellbeing about which his audiences and readers were so curious. We understand more clearly than our ancestors the workings of the human body but its response to some diseases continues to elude us (not least previously unknown viruses), and to a large extent the workings of our minds remain mysterious. Health Humanities is a growing field of literary studies, yet an interest in health and wellbeing is not new: early modern people were fascinated by the workings of the body and mind and how this impacted upon health and wellbeing. Although they differed from us in their understanding of how the body and mind worked, not least  in adhering to medieval humoral theory, early modern people were, in some ways, remarkably similar to us in their belief in the importance of clean air, sound sleep, a good diet, and regular exercise.  We share our early modern predecessors' concerns regarding physical and mental frailty and, of course, we too face the inevitability of death. Shakespeare understood these existentialist preoccupations and this special issue will consider the the various ways in which his plays and poems present and explore them.

This special issue of the journal Shakespeare invites submissions on on all aspects of health and wellbeing in Shakespeare’s works. Contributors are encouraged to consider physical and psychological health and the various impediments that hinder a healthy body and mind, including disease, injury, and trauma. No particular theoretical approaches are preferred, and work that is empirical and historical is as welcome as reconceptualizations of what we and/or the early moderns understand by the terms 'health', 'wellbeing', 'medicine', 'intervention', and the realms of the body and mind. Materials considered might include plays, poems, discursive prose writings from the period, theatrical performances, and screen adaptations.

Possible areas of interest include:

The representation of medical expertise and practice in the plays

The physical and moral implications of food and diet

The role of dirt and hygiene in physical health

Explicit and implicit invocations of humoral theory

The social, moral, and physiological aspects of disease and/or death

The impact of sleep disruption (including dreams) and/or physical exhaustion upon health and wellbeing

Social distancing and early modern theatre closure

The impact of climate and the weather on physical and/or mental health

Ill health or disability as personal and/or social failure

Living with the consequences of physical violence

The social circumstances and moral implications of obesity and/or famine

The role of the five senses on physical and/or mental health

Therapy as a means to cure the disturbed mind

Infection by smell and/or by sight.

Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}

Health and Wellbeing in Shakespeare (Special Issue of 'Shakespeare')

deadline for submissions: August 30, 2024

full name / name of organization: Joan Fitzpatrick / Loughborough University, UK

contact email: j.fitzpatrick@lboro.ac.uk

The early modern interest in physical and psychological health and the ramifications of illness is everywhere apparent in Shakespeare’s writings. Throughout his plays and poems, Shakespeare explores the origins and effects of disruptions to physical and psychological wellbeing. Both literally and metaphorically, Shakespeare’s writing considers those aspects of human health and wellbeing about which his audiences and readers were so curious. We understand more clearly than our ancestors the workings of the human body but its response to some diseases continues to elude us (not least previously unknown viruses), and to a large extent the workings of our minds remain mysterious. Health Humanities is a growing field of literary studies, yet an interest in health and wellbeing is not new: early modern people were fascinated by the workings of the body and mind and how this impacted upon health and wellbeing. Although they differed from us in their understanding of how the body and mind worked, not least  in adhering to medieval humoral theory, early modern people were, in some ways, remarkably similar to us in their belief in the importance of clean air, sound sleep, a good diet, and regular exercise.  We share our early modern predecessors' concerns regarding physical and mental frailty and, of course, we too face the inevitability of death. Shakespeare understood these existentialist preoccupations and this special issue will consider the the various ways in which his plays and poems present and explore them.

This special issue of the journal Shakespeare invites submissions on on all aspects of health and wellbeing in Shakespeare’s works. Contributors are encouraged to consider physical and psychological health and the various impediments that hinder a healthy body and mind, including disease, injury, and trauma. No particular theoretical approaches are preferred, and work that is empirical and historical is as welcome as reconceptualizations of what we and/or the early moderns understand by the terms 'health', 'wellbeing', 'medicine', 'intervention', and the realms of the body and mind. Materials considered might include plays, poems, discursive prose writings from the period, theatrical performances, and screen adaptations.

Possible areas of interest include:

The representation of medical expertise and practice in the plays

The physical and moral implications of food and diet

The role of dirt and hygiene in physical health

Explicit and implicit invocations of humoral theory

The social, moral, and physiological aspects of disease and/or death

The impact of sleep disruption (including dreams) and/or physical exhaustion upon health and wellbeing

Social distancing and early modern theatre closure

The impact of climate and the weather on physical and/or mental health

Ill health or disability as personal and/or social failure

Living with the consequences of physical violence

The social circumstances and moral implications of obesity and/or famine

The role of the five senses on physical and/or mental health

Therapy as a means to cure the disturbed mind

Infection by smell and/or by sight.

Guest editor: Joan Fitzpatrick (Loughborough University, UK)

Length of submissions: 6,000 – 9,000 words

Deadline for abstracts (200 - 250 words): March 31, 2023

Deadline for final copy submission: September 29, 2023