World ~ Picture ~ Theatre - Orbis Pictus ~ Theatrum Mundi

Call for papers
World ~ Picture ~ Theatre
Perspectives of the 21st century
Congress Amsterdam 23 - 26 October 2008
9th international conference of the Gesellschaft für Theaterwissenschaft
call for papers 1
introduction to the theme 2
thematic sections 3
footnotes 6
submision modalities 7
call for group proposals 8
program and accommodation 8
Concept and co-ordination: Prof. Dr. Kati Röttger
Theatre Studies Department, University of Amsterdam
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16, 1012 CP Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)20-5254098; Email: k.e.rottger@theatrummundi.com
Website: www.theatrummundi.com
This document and links are best viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader
The conference will focus on the relationship between theatre and world picture across different historical epochs and cultures.
The well-known topoi of Orbis Pictus on the one hand, and Theatrum Mundi on the other form the conceptual frame
for questioning this relation. The conference thus invites reflections on ways and spaces of representing the world, knowledge
of the world as well as views of the world. The conference is thus thematically divided into four sections: Paradigm
Shifts, Methods, Aesthetics and Politics.
First edition - 1658 - of the book “Orbis Sensualium Pictus” by Comenius bound into a convolute, from the collection of the Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg
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Introduction to the theme
When Johannes Comenius died in 1670 in Amsterdam, he left
behind a comprehensive, revolutionary humanistic work, with
which he sought to champion for world peace through education.
His text Orbis sensualium pictus: The visible world (1658)
is the first European school text book, a teaching tool replete
with pictures and texts, which aimed at employing sensual,
pictorial observation to arrive at an understanding of concepts
and thus to an extensive system of knowledge. #01 At the
end of the Thirty Years‘ War, Comenius sought to counter the
old theological moral systems with a new order of universal
world knowledge laid down in his Didactica Magna. (1657)
#02 One century later his didactical ideas can be found in a
proposal by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg for an „Orbis pictus
for German dramatists, novelists and actors“ (1780). #03 At
roughly the same time, the figure of Theatrum Mundi began to
acquire an enormous heuristic energy as a metaphor for viewing
the world, for the world as stage, for the art of viewing. It
was a metaphor that underlined the endeavour of that period
to conceive the world (Schramm 1996). #04 The bracketing
of the modern topoi of Orbis Pictus and that of Theatrum Mundi
informs the thematic scope of the conference by way of
offering a historical perspective on the interrelation between
world, picture and theatre under the present conditions of globalisation.
This invites debating the question of the relevance
of these two concepts in describing a culture of knowledge
that places picture and text in a new mutual relationship, particularly
against the backdrop of the global effects of digitised
mass media. Of particular significance here is an analysis of
the function and the aesthetics of theatre as signs of global
knowledge cultures between the past and the future. How
does theatre picture the world? How did it do so in the past?
What does theatre have to offer in terms of a picture critique?
And what is the relationship between theatre and world vision
or worldview? Do metaphors of world theatre also encompass
world pictures? Does globalisation put us in the process of
shifting from the representation of the world)to the creation
of world? (Nancy 2003) #05 These questions become all the
more pertinent, if globalisation is not only understood as a
product of the neo-liberal world economy, but as a process
that pervades and fundamentally alters all areas of human
coexistence. The pervasive course of „world interlinking“ calls
for a renewed look at the „world arena“ under its changing
conditions (Sloterdijk 2005 #06 , 1999 #07 ). Research in
theatricality has important tools to offer in the analysis of this
area (Schramm, Münz, Fischer-Lichte, Kotte). These studies
have shown the extent to which the metaphor of theatre operates
in the interstices of describing the world (an aesthetic
venture) and finding insights into the world (an epistemological
project). In this sense the concept of theatricality has
gained the rank of an interdisciplinary discursive element that
has far-reaching implications for other arts, social fields and
disciplines. The reference to the old concept of Theatrum Mundi
in the conference title therefore not only invites a discussion
and foregrounding of the relationship between world theatre
and world knowledge in the past and in the present (Zimmermann
2001) #08 . Moreover, a third dimension is introduced
into this structure of ambivalence, namely: the picture. Recent
developments in pictorial research only serve to highlight
the relevance of pictures. Despite our knowledge culture
being strongly determined by the order of the written word
since the beginning of the Modern era, pictures are increasingly
gaining a new value as a category of knowledge, particularly
reinforced by the technical possibilities of dissemination
offered by digital media (Bredekamp 2006 #09 ; 2004) #10
. Simultaneously, the power of images is often experienced
as threatening. Pictures are often denigrated as mere substitutes
for reality (copies, reproductions or simulacra) or they
are believed to be living beings (Mitchell 2005) #11 . In this
context, the conference seeks to critically question and assess
the cultural pessimism stemming from the fear of images. One
of the key aims of this gathering of scholars is to discuss the
possibilities of an ‚enlightened‘ engagement and relationship
to pictures. All in all, „the knowledge of globalisation“ along
with „the globalisation of knowledge“ (Appadurai 2001) #12
constitutes a hitherto unresolved challenge. The conference
sets out to question how contemporary theatre responds to
this challenge. Contributions offering historical, systematic
or cultural analyses of this complex of themes are invited.
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Section 1: Paradigm Shifts
Keywords of the section Paradigm Shifts
- Paradigm shifts and rifts in the picture of theatre studies
- Shifts and rifts in the picture of the theatre
- Linguistic turn vs. Pictorial turn
- Questions of Theatre historiography
- Theatricality and performativity as tropes
- Relation between world picture and world as stage
- Picture theory and theatre (studies)
Since the notion of the ‚paradigm shift‘ was introduced by
Thomas Kuhn in 1964 #13 to indicate shifts, even „revolutions“
in „the image of the sciences“, and thus in order to
revolutionise historiography, the humanities are increasingly
confronted with proclamations of different ‚turns‘. The
linguistic turn brought with it considerable scholarly text
production. Yet subsequent ‚turns‘ have occasionally led to
symptoms of academic fatigue, perhaps because they were
reminiscent of marketing strategies (Böhm, Iconic Turn.
Ein Brief, 2007, 28) #14. The first section of the conference
therefore invites critical and alert engagement with forms
of scholarly questioning, particularly with notions such as
the pictorial turn. Like Thomas Kuhn, Michel Foucault also
critiqued the idea of the continuity of thinking and thus the
notion of a progressive, causal and global historiography
and history of sciences. With his draft for an „Archaeology
of Knowledge Foucault introduced concepts that help in
understanding precisely the discontinuities in the history of
thinking: concepts like rupture, difference, transformation
or threshold. #15 He pleaded for a probing of epistemes in
the practice of analysis. With this he implied the entirety
of relations that underlie our presumptions, norms, judgments,
and conclusions in scientific practice in different
times and spaces. Referring to the epistemes in individual
scholarly disciplines, Foucault spoke of tropes, i.e. formulae
of knowledge. Such a broad understanding of paradigms,
which includes the analysis of epistemes, throws up several
questions that the conference seeks to debate upon. First
of all, the section aims to rethink theatrical tropes such as
„performativity“ (or the performative turn, Fischer-Lichte
(2003 #16 ; 2001 #17 , 2005 18 ) or „theatricality“ as
indicators of epistemological shifts or different „styles of
thinking“ (Schramm 2003 a #19 , b #20) in post-modern
or globalised contexts of scholarship. This further implies a
reflection of the close relationship between the form of the
stage and forms of spectatorship as depictions and configurations
of ways of thinking. A further focal area of this
section is the concept of world picture. Heidegger asked if
every age has its own „world picture“. His definition of the
concept indicates the Modern Age as the age of representation
by way of „picturing the world“. For Heidegger, the
central gesture of modernity in fact lay in the conquering
of the world as picture. This does not literally refer to a
specific picture of the world, but to the world in its entirety
(that is nature and history) conceived and grasped as
picture (Heidegger 1938) #21. Following this definition by
Heidegger, the conference section questions the extent to
which the so-called crisis of representation today leads to a
crisis of the „world picture“? Possible answers to this question
are to be found in the existence of a plurality of world
pictures, of conflicting world pictures, or in the search for
world pictures that stem from „other“ viewpoints. What is
the heuristic value of the old notion of Theatrum Mundi in
this context? Or has the notion itself been transformed by
paradigmatic shifts or revolutions of world pictures? This
leads to the question of the changes in our conceptions of
theatre and theatricality in the course of paradigm shifts.
Have we arrived at the age of the liberation of the delusions
that change the Theatrum Philosophicum into what
Foucault termed a pure event (1970)? #22 An event that
obeys a „logic of the senses“ (Deleuze 1969) #23 , and
produces an Artaudian theatre of simultaneous stages and
dancing bodies? Formulated differently: Does theatre in an
age of the end of representation become festivity, as Rousseau
once imagined? What is the impact of theatricality as
a style of thinking on the possibility of shifting borders or
transgressing fixed world pictures? In how far can theatre
studies and theatre practices contribute to these shifts? If
we assume that theatre and performance are capable of
imagining regions and worlds, we want to ask in how far
theatre contributes to engaging with others‘ perceptions
of the world. What does the world look like from other locations?
Section 2: Methods
Keywords of the section Methods
- Critical iconology and performance studies
- Visuality and/as method
- Pictorial turn and research in theatre historiography
- Pictorial and text-based methods, theatre (studies) beyond textuality
- Documentation of performance and stage events
- Theatre iconography - Spectatorship research
- Artistic research - Visual dramaturgy
As the scope of theatre and performance studies has expanded
in the past two decades to encompass a vast range
of aesthetic, cultural and political practices, there is a need
to reflect on and question the potentials and limitations of
the tools of research and analysis. Further, the changes in
the discipline call for a heightened sensitivity to the question
of methodology itself. In particular the transformations
in visual representation in the theatre press for a revision
of the interrelation between texts, pictures, bodies and
media. Such a rethinking cannot ignore the methodological
connections between thinking about and thinking through
pictures. One starting point for this venture is the field of
critical iconology. This is for instance characterised by Gottfried
Böhm‘s call to epistemologically interrelate language
and pictorial critique (1994) #24 , by Hans Beltings idea
of an anthropological picture studies (2001, #25 , 2005)
#26 , or by W.J.T. Mitchell‘s critique of the disciplinary separation
between the subjects of arts and media studies
(1994) #27 , which seeks to place the image, the body
and the medium in a dynamic relationship with each other.
The challenge for theatre studies is thus to methodologically
contend with the heterogeneity of the field, beyond
the celebration of intermedial approaches. The ‚pictorial
turn‘ should neither be misinterpreted as the mere invoca-
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tion of the threatening potential of images, nor be mistaken
as a plea for the sole importance of images. Rather it is a call
for an engagement with images as categories of knowledge
and research, as a form of communication whose history and
consequences demand critical inquiry. It calls for an understanding
of images in their close relationship to embodiment,
sound or space. The reference to the pictorial turn can be
read as a call to develop a critical instrument to analyse and
appraise pictorial cultures, regardless of whether they are
from scholarly or popular domains, of whether they are symptoms
of the present Global Age or as a subject of historical
analysis. This section invites papers and working groups that
reflect on research work in progress, with a specific focus on
the methods used and highlighting their underlying methodologies.
The spectrum of possible themes is therefore very
broad. Firstly, how are researchers addressing issues such
as the inadequacy of textual readings and semiotic approaches
for analysing intermediality in performance today? The
word-image distinction may have been overcome in art and
particularly in performance practice, and this is certainly evident
in the explosion of available material on visual culture,
yet it is strongly present in research methodologies. In what
way do experiments with visuality and narrativity on stage
influence or determine modes of looking, reading, interpreting,
making sense of the world? To what extent can images
be accommodated into a system of signs? What alternatives
do picture theory, art and media theory have on offer in honing
theatre methodologies? (Jackob/Röttger 2003) #28 Do
we require new modes of theatre analysis and instruments
of theatre historiography in order to analyse new „stages
of vision“? (Balme 2002)? #29 Further, what contributions
can research in scenography and stage design make to the
field of pictorial studies? And in what ways is performance
research unknowingly blind to those aspects of performance
that are not visual/visible (Bharucha, Theatre and the World,
1990)? #30 What is the methodological implication of the
interplay between visuality and (in)visibility? Such questions
invariably lead to the engagement with concepts and definitions.
What are pictures in the theatre? Considering the
heterogenous and diverse nature of imagery and conceptions
of the image, is it possible to even speak of a single systematic
definition of images in the theatre (Kolesch 2005)?
#31 Do approaches based on critical iconology help in the
appraisal of theatre as a dynamic field of relations between
images, bodies and media? Do concepts such as intertextuality
and intermediality necessarily give rise to what might
be termed „inter-iconicity“? How can the notion of theatricality
be methodologically linked to visibility and visuality in
the theatre? What consequences does the iconic turn have
for methods and concepts of theatre historiography? These
questions relate to the growing field of theatre iconography.
Pictorial artefacts, documentations of performance and the
world of the theatre are increasingly being viewed not only
as illustrations, which must be supplemented by text, but
rather as source materials of special significance to theatre
historiography. Studying these artefacts and images involves
openness to non-textual sources and cultural expressions,
as well as a critical stance towards analysing such material
as historical truth (Balme et al., European Theatre Icongraphy,
2002). #32 Further, what does the changing position of
images in the history of the humanities imply for the study
of spectatorship as a field of performance studies? Finally,
this section of the conference invites reflection on practicebased
methodologies in performance research, a field receiving
increasing attention in many university contexts. Can
practice-based or artistic research be a methodological step
forward in recognising the obsolete distinction between understanding
or picturing the world and shaping the world?
On the one hand, this raises questions related to methods
of dramaturgy. Do we need a new dramaturgy of the image,
and what shape might such a dramaturgical approach possibly
take? On the other hand, it also questions standards
of scholarship. Do models of artistic research imply that the
borders between art and scholarship are in fact being redrawn?
Is there a potential scope for debate on reform of
university study programmes by re-thinking the action/research
divide?
Section 3: Aesthetics
Keywords of the section Aesthetics
- Pictures in theatre
- Relationship between image, text, sound, movement and body in the performing arts
- New technologies and intermedial aspects of aesthetics and perception
- History and function of the gaze
- Experiences of space and time
- Topographies of the performing arts
- Theatre architecture and the steering of perception
- Changing forms of narration in the light of changing media aesthetics
The question of the interplay between theatre and world picture
cannot be seen independently of its medial components,
through which this interplay is made possible. Yet paradigm
changes in the arts are also always determined by aesthetic
innovations, which are often related to a change of medium
or to the introduction of new technologies. This section
invites contributions that deal with the aesthetics and the
media of the theatre, of theatrical events or performances
in different historical periods. This includes a spectrum of
questions, ranging from the functions and implications of paradigmatic
theatrical aesthetics such as the Baroque world
theatre, the notion of a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total theatre
on the one hand, to the elements of aesthetic composition
or medial transformation in theatre, dance, musical theatre
and other performing arts, on the other. The recurrent theme
in all these areas is that of the boundary shifts between
reality and fiction, of the role of theatricality in the creation
of different worlds, extending to fields as diverse as the fine
arts or natural or computational sciences. The following focal
areas are of particular interest to this conference section:
1. Image in theatre: How can we best approach the aesthetics
of the image? Does the theatre generate images, and if
so, what kind of images are being referred to? What are the
developments in the relationship between image and text or
image and sound in theatre? What are the special functions
and effects of image-generating media in the theatre? How
exactly do image, language and sound relate to each other
intermedially? Apart from the more performance analytical
aspects, the question here is of theatre historiography, of
writing the history of image aesthetics in the theatre. Günther
Heeg (2000) #33 , for instance, has critically engaged
with this subject in his study of the relationship between
image, body and language in 18th century European theatre.
Of central importance to the dynamics of seeing and being
seen in theatre is the notion of the gaze (Hass 2005). #34
2. Space, time and body in relation to global perceptions, experiences
and processes of mondialisation (Derrida). #35 Contributions
that interrogate the dimensions of space and time in
relation to categories of mobility, virtuality or simultaneity in
the Global Age are invited in this sub-section. Further, presentations
that link aspects of space and time to image and text,
or movement and rhythm to intermediality, and the configurations
of body and image in theatre history (see Brandstetter
1995) #36 are also welcome in this section of the conference.
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3. The influence of new technologies (such as mobile telephony,
photography) on theatre aesthetics and modes of perception in
different epochs. We invite contributions reflecting on the relationship
between theatre and image-generating media such as film,
video, digital arts. Which cultural mechanisms lead to transformations
in the „image of the sciences“, especially in the theatre?
4. Pictures of theatre: To what extent does theatre architecture
reflect on or reproduce modes of aesthetic perception? How are
spectators placed and image-ined in theatre architecture? What
is the image/picture of theatre in other visual arts and fields?
Section 4: Politics
5. New forms of narration: How does the visual focus of the
new media influence or affect forms of narration in the theatre?
How do dramatic elements such as plot, dialogue and character
relate to the imagination and depiction of others‘ lives? Are new
horizons and spaces opening up for drama texts in the light of
an apparently endless mondialisation?
Keywords of the section Politics
- Theatrical imagination as a social practice
- Imagination of communities in the context of globalisation: hybridity and deterritorialisation
- The concept of the spectacle - Spectatorship and politics of perception
- Theatre, performance and cultural diversity.
- Politics of images and pictorial critique in the theatre
- Conflicting images
This section grapples with the question of the relationship between
theatre and politics in three ways: The first concern is
the nexus of theatre and the political formations of communities.
Whether we think about the function of theatre for the
Greek polis or the close link between theatre and the nation
states since the 18th century: the theatrical imagination of
communities forms a vital part of its political realisation and
creation. Benedict Anderson‘s study Imagined Communities
(1986) #37 has served to explicate how this actually happened
in European history. The question must be reformulated
today, addressing how theatre practices deal with the political
ambivalence of emerging nation-states on the one hand and
their ongoing deterritorialization on the other. To what extent
has this enabled new and different forms of imagination of social
life in the theatre? In his study Modernity at Large (1996)
Arjun Appadurai claims that the concepts of the image, the
imaginary and the imagined direct us to something critical
and new in global cultural processes. He thus calls for imagination
as a social practice (1996, 35). #38 The lives of the
globalised populations of the world, he claims, are located in
different imagined worlds, which need to be communicated,
critiqued and at times subverted. This conference section asks
how theatre and performance practices respond to this plea.
This leads to the second concern of this section: is it possible
to define a new kind of political theatre that contributes to the
social practice of imagination? In other words: Can theatre be
described as an appropriate medium for image critique? To
what extent does the theatre critically intervene in global, social
practices of imagination? What are the emerging forms of
image critique and how far is theatre adequately equipped to
offer a critique of the image? Have theatre practices been able
to develop a more refined, critical and persuasive imagery, to
counter the tired repertoire of global image production and re-
production? (Latour 2002) #39 This set of questions calls for a
renewed engagement with Guy Debord‘s idea of the ‚spectacle‘
(1967), #40 which he used to argue that humans have become
distant and silent spectators whose agency is restricted
to mere consumption, where images become commodities.
What kind of political theatre can acknowledge and question
the central position of images as phenomena of global cultural
communication? To what extent do theatre practitioners and
scholars confront Debord‘s notion of the spectacular with images
and conceptions of an „emancipated spectator“? In what
way does the politics of images in contemporary theatre serve
to in fact make perception and spectatorship themselves into
political questions? In what way is the ‚politics of perception‘
(Lehmann, 1999) #41 or the ‚politics of the image‘ (Rancière,
2003) #42 able to mobilise and question the position of
the spectators and their responsibility for what they see? The
third part of this conference section deals with the theatricality
of politics. The age-old art of rhetoric, long viewed as indispensable
to political debate and communication, is now being
increasingly replaced by the art of „telegenic appeal“. Herfried
Münkler argues that this shift has led to a drastic theatricalisation
of politics. #43 In what way do contemporary political
strategies of theatricalisation differ from absolutist or revolutionary
strategies from past eras? What are the consequences
of this theatricalisation for representative democracy? How
does this affect power relations, and where does the spectator
fit into this scheme? Finally, this is connected to the role
of theatre and performance art in the past and present. Can
theatre and performance become sites of resistance against
the encroaching theatricalisation of social life? (‚resistant performance‘,
Auslander 1992 #44 ; Carlson 1996 #45 ).
Three small size selections from the narrative scroll “Orbis Digitalium Pictus” on the web-site of the Orbis Pictus/Theatrum Mundi conference, by Tjebbe van Tijen/Imaginary
Museum Projects, specially made for the congress. It is the first of a series of such scrolls that will be shown on-line in t he coming months ...
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Footnotes
#01 Comenius, Johannes Amos (1592-1670) // 1658/1991 - Comenius, Johann Amos. 1#01
Comenius, Johann Amos (1592-1670) // 1659/1968 - Comenius, J. A., & Hoole, C. (1659).
Joh. Amos Commenii Orbis sensualium pictus, hoc est, Omnium fundamentalium in mundo
rerum, & in vita actionum, pictura & nomenclatura Joh. Amos Commenius‘s Visible world, or,
A picture and nomenclature of all the chief things that are in the world, and of mens employments
therein. London: Printed for J. Kirton.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 450. A reprint of
this edition is available in some libraries: Comenius, Johann Amos, and John Edward Sadler.
1968. Orbis pictus. London: Oxford U.P.
#02 Comenius, Johann Amos (1592-1670) // 1657/1967 - Comenius, Johann Amos. 1967.
John Amos Comenius on education. Classics in education, no. 33. New York: Teachers College
Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 236. This publication has an introduction by Piaget and
gives English translations of the following: The labyrinth of the world and the paradise of the
heart.--The great didactic.--The pampaedia.--The panorthosia.
#03 Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph (1742-1799) // 1780/1994 - Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph,
and Wolfgang Promies. 1994. Schriften und Briefe. Dritter Band, Aufsätze ; Entwürfe ;
Gedichte ; Erklärung der Hogarthischen Kupferstiche. Frankfurt am Main: Zweitausendeins.;
Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 1075. „Vorschlag zu einem Orbis pictus für deutsche dramatische
Schriftsteller, Romanen-Dichter und Schauspieler. Nebst einigen Beyträgen dazu, von
G.C.L.“; GMWL, 1. Jahrgang, 3. Stück(VI), 1780. Wiederabdruck in SB 3: 378-405.
#04 Schramm, Helmar // 1996 - Schramm, Helmar. 1996. Karneval des Denkens Theatralität
im Spiegel philosophischer Texte des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts. LiteraturForschung. Berlin:
Akademie. (Seiten/Pages 307); Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 307.
#05 Nancy, Jean-Luc // 2002/2007 - Nancy, Jean-Luc. 2007. The creation of the world, or,
Globalization. SUNY series in contemporary French thought. Albany: State University of New
York Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 129. Contents: Urbi et Orbi -- Of creation -- Creation
as denaturation : metaphysical technology -- Complements.
Other Titles: La création du monde ou la mondialisation., Creation of the world, Globalization
#06 Sloterdijk, Peter // 2005 - ; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 415. Translation of this quotation
from a student paprer of Hubertus Mayr
#07 Sloterdijk, Peter (1947-) // 1999 - Sloterdijk, Peter. 1999. Sphären Mikrosphärologie. 2,
Globen. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 1013.
#08 Zimmermann, Jörg // 2001 - Früchtl, Josef, and Jörg Zimmermann. 2001. Ästhetik der
Inszenierung Dimensionen eines künstlerischen, kulturellen und gesellschaftlichen Phänomens.
Edition Suhrkamp, 2196. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 298.
Siehe insb. zu Theatrum Mundi: Zimmermann, Jörg: „Mutmaßungen über die Regie des
Lebens. Stationen einer Metaphysik der Inszenierung, in: Ästhetik der Inszenierung, S. 103-
125. Proceedings of a conference held March 22-26, 2000, Oper Frankfurt.
#09 Bredekamp, Horst // 2006 - Bredekamp, Horst, and Pablo Schneider. 2006. Visuelle
Argumentationen die Mysterien der Reprasentation und die Berechenbarkeit der Welt. Reihe
Kulturtechnik. München: Wilhelm Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 280.
#10 Bredekamp, Horst // 2004 - Bredekamp, Horst. 2005. Darwins Korallen die frühen Evolutionsdiagramme
und die Tradition der Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Wagenbach.; Anzahl/Number
Seiten/pages 111.
#11 Mitchell, W. J. Thomas // 2005 - Mitchell, W. J. Thomas. 2005. What do pictures want?
the lives and loves of images. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/
pages 380.
#12 Appadurai, Arjun // 2001 - Appadurai, Arjun. 2001. Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 334.
#13 Kuhn, Thomas S. (1922-1996) // 1962 - Kuhn, Thomas S. 1964. The structure of scientific
revolutions. [Chicago]: University of Chicago Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 172.
#14 Böhm, Gottfried // 2007 - Belting, Hans. 2007. Bilderfragen die Bildwissenschaften im
Aufbruch. Bild und Text. München: Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 357. Böhm, Gottfried:
„Iconic Turn. Ein Brief“; S. 27-36. Papers presented at the conference „Bildwissenschaft? Eine
Zwischenbilanz“, held at Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna,
Austria during April 21-23, 2005.
#15 Foucault, Michel // 1969/1972 - Foucault, Michel. 1974. The archaeology of knowledge.
World of man. London: Tavistock Publications.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 245.
#16 Fischer-Lichte, Erika // 2003 - Balme, Christopher B., Erika Fischer-Lichte, and Stephan
Grätzel. 2003. Theater als Paradigma der Moderne? Positionen zwischen historischer Avantgarde
und Medienzeitalter. Mainzer Forschungen zu Drama und Theater, Bd. 28. Tübingen:
Francke.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 506. Fischer-Lichte, Erika: „Vom Theater als Paradigma
der Moderne zu den Kulturen des Performativen. Ein Stück Wissenschaftsgeschichte“:
S. 15-32.
#17 Fischer-Lichte, Erika // 2001 - Fischer-Lichte, Erika. 2001. Theatralität und die Krisen der
Repräsentation. Germanistische Symposien, Berichtsbände, 22. Stuttgart: Metzler.; Anzahl/
Number Seiten/pages 620.
#18 Fischer-Lichte, Erika // 2005 - Fischer-Lichte, Erika. 2005. Diskurse des Theatralen.
Theatralität, Bd. 7. Tübingen: Francke.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 362.
#19 Schramm, Helmar // 2003 a - Schramm, Helmar. 2003. Bühnen des Wissens Interferenzen
zwischen Wissenschaft und Kunst : [Veröffentlichung der Universitäts-Ringvorlesung
der Freien Universität Berlin in Kooperation mit dem Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte
(Berlin), dem Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik der Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin und dem Zentrum für Literaturforschung Berlin im Wintersemester 2000/2001]. Berlin:
Dahlem Univ. Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 446.
#20 Schramm, Helmar // 2003 b/2005 - Schramm, Helmar, Ludger Schwarte, and Jan Lazardzig.
2005. Collection, laboratory, theater scenes of knowledge in the 17th century. Theatrum
scientiarum: English edition, v. 1. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/
pages 594.
#21 Heidegger, Martin // 1950/1977 - Heidegger, Martin. 1977. The question concerning
technology, and other essays. Harper colophon books. New York: Harper & Row.; Anzahl/
Number Seiten/pages 182. „Die Zeit des Weltbilds“/The age of the world picture is quoted
here. Content: The question concerning technology.--The turning.--The word of Nietzsche:
„God is dead.“--The age of the world picture.--Science and reflection.
#22 Foucault, Michel // 1970/2000? - Foucault, Michel: „Theatrum Philosophicum“; (Orig. in
Critique 282, November 1970); Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages . This review essay originally
appeared in Critique 282(1970), pp. 885-908. The translation, by Donald F. Brouchard and
Sherry Simon, has been slightly amended.
#23 Deleuze, Gilles // 1969/1990 - Deleuze, Gilles. 1990. The logic of sense. European perspectives.
New York: Columbia University Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 393.
#24 Böhm, Gottfried // 1994/2003 - Boehm, Gottfried. 1995. Was ist ein Bild? Bild und Text.
München: W. Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 458.
#25 Belting. Hans // 2001 - Belting, Hans. 2001. Bild-Anthropologie Entwürfe für eine Bildwissenschaft.
Bild und Text. München: W. Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 278.
#26 Belting, Hans // 2005 - Critical inquiry. 31 (Winter 2005). Chicago: University of Chicago
Press; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 319. Belting, Hans: „Image, Medium, Body: A New
Approach to Iconology“; S. 302-319. Article is a summary of the first chapter of his boo:
„Bild-Anthropologie“, 2001.
#27 Mitchell, W. J. Thomas // 1994 - Mitchell, W. J. Thomas. 1994. Picture theory essays
on verbal and visual representation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.; Anzahl/Number
Seiten/pages 445 .
#28 Jackob, Alexander // 2003 - Ernst, Christoph, Petra Gropp, and Karl Anton Sprengard.
2003. Perspektiven interdisziplinärer Medienphilosophie. Bielefeld: Transcript.; Anzahl/Number
Seiten/pages 331. Jackob, Alexander/ Kati Röttger: „Ab der Schwelle zum Sichtbaren. Zu
einer neuen Theorie des Bildes im Medium Theater“; S. 234-257.
#29 Balme, Christopher // 2002 - Belting, Hans, Dietmar Kamper, and Martin Schulz. 2002.
Quel corps? eine Frage der Repräsentation. München: Wilhelm Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/
pages 510. Balme, Christopher: „Stages of Vision: Bild, Körper und Medium im Theater“; S.
349-364.
#30 Bharucha, Rustom // 1990 - Bharucha, Rustom. 1990. Theatre and the world essays
on performance and politics of culture. New Delhi: Manohar Publications.; Anzahl/Number
Seiten/pages 312.
#31 Kolesch, Doris // 2005 - Fischer-Lichte, Erika, Doris Kolesch, and Matthias Warstat. 2005.
Metzler Lexikon Theatertheorie. Stuttgart: Metzler.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 400. Kolesch,
Doris: „Bild“. Eintragung im Metztler Lexikon Theatertheorie; S. 43-46.
#32 Balme, Christopher // 2002 - European Science Foundation, Christopher B. Balme, R.
L. Erenstein, Cesare Molinari, Maria Chiara Barbieri, and Sandra Pietrini. 2002. European
theatre iconography proceedings of the European Science Foundation Network (Mainz, 22-26
July 1998, Wassenaar, 21-25 July 1999, Poggio a Caiano, 20-23 July 2000). Roma: Bulzoni.;
Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 388.
#33 Heeg, Günther // 2000 - Heeg, Günther. 2000. Das Phantasma der natürlichen Gestalt
Körper, Sprache und Bild im Theater des 18. Jahrhunderts. Frankfurt am Main: Stroemfeld.;
Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 487.
#34 Haß, Ulrike // 2005 - Hass, Ulrike. 2005. Das Drama des Sehens Auge, Blick und Bühnenform.
München: W. Fink.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 405.
#35 Derrida, Jacques // 1990/2004 - Derrida, Jacques. 2004. Eyes of the university Right
to philosophy 2. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages
303. Originally published in French in 1990 as pp. 281-663 of a book entitled Du droit à la
philosophie“--T.p. verso.
#36 Brandstetter, Gabriele // 1995 - Brandstetter, Gabriele. 1995. Tanz-Lektüren Körperbilder
und Raumfiguren der Avantgarde. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag.;
Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 495.
#37 Anderson, Benedict (1936-) // 1985 - Anderson, Benedict. 1985. Imagined communities
reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso Ed.; Anzahl/Number
Seiten/pages 160.
#38 Appadurai, Arjun // 1996 - Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at large cultural dimensions
of globalization. Public worlds, v. 1. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press.;
Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 229.
#39 Latour, Bruno // 2002 - Latour, Bruno, Charlotte Bigg, and Peter Weibel. 2002. Iconoclash
[beyond the image wars in science, religion, and art]. Karlsruhe: ZKM, Center for Art
and Media.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 703.
#40 Debord, Guy // 1967/1970 - Debord, Guy. 1970. Society of the spectacle. Radical America.
Vol IV, 5. Detroit: [Radical America etc.].; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages .
#41 Lehmann, Hans-Thies // 1999/2006 - Lehmann, Hans-Thies. 2006. Postdramatic theatre.
London: Routledge.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 214.
#42 Rancière, Jacques // 2003/2007 - Rancière, Jacques. 2007. The future of the image.
London: Verso.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 147.
#43 Münkler, Herfried // 2001 - Früchtl, Josef, and Jörg Zimmermann. 2001. Ästhetik der Inszenierung
Dimensionen eines künstlerischen, kulturellen und gesellschaftlichen Phänomens.
Edition Suhrkamp, 2196. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 298. Münkler,
Herfried: „Die Theatralisierung der Politik“; S. 144-163
#44 Auslander, Philip // 1992 - Auslander, Philip. 1992. Presence and resistance postmodernism
and cultural politics in contemporary American performance. Theater--theory/text/
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#45 Carlson, Marvin // 1996 - Carlson, Marvin A. 1996. Performance a critical introduction.
London: Routledge.; Anzahl/Number Seiten/pages 247.
6

PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Submission Modalities
We invite submissions of abstracts until 16 June 2008. The
Abstract should be focused on one of the four sections the
conference foresees (paradigm shifts, methods, aesthetics,
politics). The focus should be clearly indicated. Abstracts in
either English or German must not exceed 400 words, and
should provide a concise outline of the planned conference
presentation (maximum 20 minutes). Panels will be organized
according to theme as well as language of presentation.
We specifically invite submissions that include images and audio-visual
materials, in addition to the written abstract. Series
of images and related texts can be combined into a visual narrative
in the form of a horizontal or vertical scroll. For those
In the same manner the selected participants
will be invited to add documented
quotations to their abstract text, that
will facilitate the understanding - by
other conference participants - of references
in their submitted abstract. These
quotations can be more extensive than
the usual short academic references.
The selected participants will receive a
personal log-in for the conference website,
offering a simple tool to construct
such documented quotations. From
March 4 onward an example of this way
of documentation will be shown in the
web version of the call for papers.
Abstracts can be submitted via the on-line form at:
www.theatrummundi.com
or via e-mail to:
abstracts@theatrummundi.com
whose submission has been selected the conference web site
will offer a simple on-line tool for making and submitting such
scrolls by 1st of July.
7

Call for group proposals
We invite proposals by a team of scholars to build their own
panel. The panels should fit into one of the four thematic sections
of the conference. Each proposal within a panel should
be clearly interrelated to the overall panel theme or question.
We also solicit panel ideas, which can be announced on the
website, inviting interested participants to join and be involved
in the preparation of a specific panel. A panel should consist of
a minimum of three speakers in addition to a chair. Each panel
is allotted a maximum of 90 minutes. In the event of eight
participants for one panel, an additional 90 minutes will be allotted.
Panel submissions must include an abstract outlining the
Program and accomodation
structure and thematic focus of the entire panel, in addition to
abstracts of each individual paper (maximum 400 words each).
Names and contact details of every panel speaker and chair
must be included in the abstract. The panel chair is responsible
for ensuring the participation of all speakers in
the conference, as well as co-ordinating their registration
formalities. Panel proposals can be sent via e-mail to
panels@theatrummundi.com
Detailed information on hotels, venues, artistic program and congress payments will be published on the website from May first
onward. The exact conference program will be available from the 16th of July.
Overview of the location of the main venues: Aula (Singel/Spui); Goethe-Institut (Herengracht); Universiteitstheater
(Nieuwe Doelenstraat); Frascati, Brakke Grond (Nes).
Conference orgqanizer: Prof. Dr. Kati Röttger,
leerstoelgroep theaterwetenschap (Theatre Studies Department) UUniversity of Amsterdam,
Nieuwe Doelenstraat 16, 1012 CP Amsterdam, Netherlands
tel.: 0031- (0)20-5254098,
mail: k.e.rottger@theatrummundi.com
web-site: www.theatrummundi.com
Adminstration and website coordination Hubertus Mayr: h.m.mayr@theatrummundi.com
Website design: Tjebbe van Tijen/Imaginary Museum Projects and Joachim Rotteveel & Elwin Zuiderveld.
In the framework of the Orbis Pictus Theatrum
Mundi congress Marie Jo Lafontaine will present
video-works in musical settings prepared
by Michael Fahres. It will be a world premiere
that relates directly to the video-installation “I
love the World”, developed by Marie Jo Lafontaine
for the Skyarena Frankfurt as a part of the
opening ceremony of the World Football Cup
2006.
8