Transnationality: Intercultural Dialogues, Encounters, and the Theatres of Curiosity

Drábek, Pavel

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the long history of cultural dialogues in theatre, summed up in the concept of transnationality. Drawing on a range of dramaturgies, it argues for a historiographic approach that foregrounds the transnational and intercultural encounter, or metaphysical dialogue, that takes place in theatres of curiosity. An alternative version to geographic transnationality is offered: the transnational mindset that places the intercultural dialogue at the forefront of the meaning making – not necessarily material, literal transnationality but metaphysical trnasnationality. When practised fully, metaphysical transnationality is a genuine mode of curiosity in the dialogue – with other nations, cultures, people, identities, customs, behaviours and viewpoints. With a long historic purview, from classical Greece to modern times, the chapter argues for a different perspective on theatrical itinerancy and transnationality. Case studies centre on late medieval and early modern plays from a variety of genres (morality plays, civic comedy, baroque opera).

Citation

Drábek, P. (2023). Transnationality: Intercultural Dialogues, Encounters, and the Theatres of Curiosity. In Y. Meerzon, & S. E. Wilmer (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook on Theatre and Migration (639-650). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20196-7_51

• Online Publication Date: Aug 2, 2023
• Publication Date: Aug 2, 2023
• Deposit Date: Dec 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 3, 2025
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 639-650
• Book Title: The Palgrave Handbook on Theatre and Migration
• Chapter Number: 51
• ISBN: 9783031201950 ; 9783031201981
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20196-7_51
• Keywords: Transnationality; Migration; Itinerant theatre; Decolonisation; Gil Vicente; Lope de Vega; Aphra Behn
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3899808
• Contract Date: Sep 1, 2021