Yan Brailowsky | Université Paris Nanterre (original) (raw)

Papers by Yan Brailowsky

Research paper thumbnail of Albany’s ‘Milky gentleness’

In an article published in 1960, Leo Kirschbaum attempted to justify Shakespeare's occasionally p... more In an article published in 1960, Leo Kirschbaum attempted to justify Shakespeare's occasionally patchy characterization of Albany in King Lear. In sketching the Duke's transformation from a weakling dominated by an evil wife in the early scenes, to the pious statesman in the closing act, Kirschbaum wondered whether "Albany's growth from nonentity to greatness in King Lear [was] not worth Gloucester's eyes," suggesting the earlier atrocity was the necessary prelude to the Duke's later coming of age and "apotheosis." 1 Kirschbaum himself was quick to deny that he would attempt to answer this question. Rather, he argued simply that "Albany was meant by Shakespeare to be observed carefully." 2 This paper will take up Kirschbaum's suggestion-but with a different approach. Kirschbaum and other critics in his wake have seemed to excuse Albany's meekness with the benefit of hindsight, as if what occurred in acts II and III was a necessary stage for the character to realize where his moral duty lay. This reading rests on the assumption that there is such a thing as a character's 'development' and 'coherence', two notions that are now moot, given that Albany is but a literary construct which does not need to be developed or coherent to serve a dramatic purpose (pace Aristotle). More importantly, I believe Kirschbaum's study only provides a partial

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and Africa

Research paper thumbnail of Brevity is the soul of wit

Research paper thumbnail of “Fright the ladies out of their wits”: Gendered passion and the English stage

Research paper thumbnail of French Perspectives on Digital Humanities: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité?

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Nov 1, 2011

In studying 'digital humanities', what might seem to be mainly technical or academic concerns pro... more In studying 'digital humanities', what might seem to be mainly technical or academic concerns prove to have real political implications. This paper discusses the infrastructure, methodology, and applications created by a new generation of researchers with the help of digital humanities which can help lend academia a new sense of purpose, rather than a purpose per se, by questioning the notions of literacy, accessibility, autonomy of thinking and learning at the heart of modern universities. Digital humanities may help rekindle academics' embattled feeling that they belong to a community (of learning, of thought). This paper also argues that new forms of research require new evaluation criteria which value collaboration and open access over competition and market-based point-scoring. Whether this can be achieved in France remains to be seen, but the freedom of expression, openness and responsiveness afforded by digital humanities might prove truly revolutionary, allowing "the people" to educate themselves despite every effort by policymakers to determine who and what should be taught.

Research paper thumbnail of Amphibologie et parole jésuitique à la renaissance: entre poétique et politique

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2006

L'ambiguïté de la parole oraculaire est semblable, sinon la même, que celle que l'on prête aux fi... more L'ambiguïté de la parole oraculaire est semblable, sinon la même, que celle que l'on prête aux figures de rhétorique comme l'amphibologie ou l'équivoque, "when we speake or write doubtfully and that the sence may be taken two wayes" 1. Nombreux sont les auteurs au XVI e siècle qui condamnent l'usage de ces figures, car elles font preuve d'une subtilité toute démoniaque en jouant sur des mots a priori innocents pour tromper les hommes. De la même façon, tout exercice prophétique ou divinatoire est regardé d'un mauvais oeil : qui nous dit qu'une « vision » n'est pas le produit de Satan ? Pourtant, Shakespeare a exploité la figure de l'amphibologie, surtout dans ses pièces historiques, et il a également mis en scène des oracles et des prophéties. Est-ce à dire que, dans le théâtre de Shakespeare, la parole oraculaire, l'amphibologie et la narration historique sont intrinsèquement liées ? En prenant le cas de l'amphibologie, je chercherai à interroger les liens entre poétique et politique. Ce faisant, je pourrai faire apparaître quelques * Communication faite au Congrès de la S.A.E.S. de Nantes en mai 2006.

Research paper thumbnail of Marguerite A. Tassi, Women and Revenge in Shakespeare. Gender, Genre and Ethics (Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 2011)

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Le sauvage et le courtisan : Une lecture du théâtre élisabéthain

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Language and Otherness in Renaissance Culture

Your Highness knows, comes to no further use But to be known and hated (4.4.71-3). To no further ... more Your Highness knows, comes to no further use But to be known and hated (4.4.71-3). To no further use in court, perhaps. But if the prodigal Hal, alone in the histories, achieves something like epic status, it is also because, on the climactic eve of Agincourt, he would again, this time cloaked in darkness rather than debauchery, listen avidly to the language of the social other, haunting the ranks of the common soldiers to sound them out and thus 3 1 Cor 9-10 in the concluding moments of Act 4 scene 1 of the play. All references to A Midsummer Night's Dream,

Research paper thumbnail of Mary Stuart’s Bouncing Head

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2020

XVIe siècle, en France et en Angleterre, le théâtre et l'échafaud sont consubstantiels, tous deux... more XVIe siècle, en France et en Angleterre, le théâtre et l'échafaud sont consubstantiels, tous deux des lieux surélevés qui donnent à voir un spectacle tragique devant un parterre de spectateurs1. Ce lien informe la production dramatique de l'époque, marquée par une grande violence, loin encore de l'esthétique classique de la seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle où les dramaturges étaient sommés de faire preuve de plus de retenue, suivant les règles de bienséance et de vraisemblance. Réciproquement, le théâtre a peut-être contribué à orienter l'interprétation des supplices et exécutions publics, cérémonies qui mettaient en scène et affirmaient le pouvoir de l'État d'après Michel Foucault2. Dans Surveiller et punir, ce dernier s'intéressait surtout à la disparition de ces spectacles publics et à la naissance d'un nouveau système punitif : un fait est là : a disparu, en quelques dizaines d'années, le corps supplicié, dépecé, amputé, symboliquement marqué au visage ou à l'épaule, exposé vif ou mort, donné en spectacle. A disparu le corps comme cible majeure de la répression pénale. […] La punition tendra donc à devenir la part la plus cachée du processus pénal3. 1 Christian Biet, « Naissance sur l'échafaud ou la tragédie du début du XVIIe siècle », Intermédialités : Histoire et théorie des arts, des lettres et des techniques, 1 (2003), p. 75-105.

Research paper thumbnail of The Spider and the Statue: Poisoned innocence in The Winter’s Tale

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Oct 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of From Genesitic Curiosity to Dangerous Gynocracy in Sixteenth-Century England

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - SHS, Jun 21, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Must we mean what we say? Coriolanus and ordinary language philosophy

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 16, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Politique de l'anecdote, ou l'histoire secrète du théâtre élisabéthain

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Mar 14, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Puritan Economics in Measure for Measure

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of La langue de Shakespeare

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 1, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and Africa

Shakespeare en devenir, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of A Traitress, and a Dear": The Paradoxes of Women and Forensic Rhetoric in Early Modern Drama

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 9, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and the supernatural

I Embodying the supernatural 29 1 Shakespeare's political spectres-Victoria Bladen 31 2 'Rudely s... more I Embodying the supernatural 29 1 Shakespeare's political spectres-Victoria Bladen 31 2 'Rudely stamped': supernatural generation and the limits of power in Shakespeare's Richard III-Chelsea Phillips 50 3 Digital puppetry and the supernatural: double Ariel in the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Tempest (2017)-Anchuli Felicia King 70 II Haunted spaces 85

Research paper thumbnail of Reconnaissance et « acknowledgment » sur la scène élisabéthaine

For poets like Sir Philip Sidney, the numerous incongruities found in Elizabethan drama fly in th... more For poets like Sir Philip Sidney, the numerous incongruities found in Elizabethan drama fly in the face of Aristotelian theory. London audiences in 1580-1600 would have been hard pressed to recognize the time and place of the action represented on stage from one scene to the next. By comparing Greek theory and Elizabethan practice, this paper highlights the epistemological and hermeneutic issues posed by "recognition scenes". In so doing, it also underlines the differences between plays and genres from 1580 to 1620 in England, as recognition scenes in The Spanish Tragedy or Richard III differ from those found in The Tempest or The Winter's Tale… Using Stanley Cavell's treatment of the notion of acknowledgment in Shakespeare's plays, this paper finally discusses the interplay between knowledge, acknowledgment, disowning and confession in recognition scenes.

Research paper thumbnail of Albany’s ‘Milky gentleness’

In an article published in 1960, Leo Kirschbaum attempted to justify Shakespeare's occasionally p... more In an article published in 1960, Leo Kirschbaum attempted to justify Shakespeare's occasionally patchy characterization of Albany in King Lear. In sketching the Duke's transformation from a weakling dominated by an evil wife in the early scenes, to the pious statesman in the closing act, Kirschbaum wondered whether "Albany's growth from nonentity to greatness in King Lear [was] not worth Gloucester's eyes," suggesting the earlier atrocity was the necessary prelude to the Duke's later coming of age and "apotheosis." 1 Kirschbaum himself was quick to deny that he would attempt to answer this question. Rather, he argued simply that "Albany was meant by Shakespeare to be observed carefully." 2 This paper will take up Kirschbaum's suggestion-but with a different approach. Kirschbaum and other critics in his wake have seemed to excuse Albany's meekness with the benefit of hindsight, as if what occurred in acts II and III was a necessary stage for the character to realize where his moral duty lay. This reading rests on the assumption that there is such a thing as a character's 'development' and 'coherence', two notions that are now moot, given that Albany is but a literary construct which does not need to be developed or coherent to serve a dramatic purpose (pace Aristotle). More importantly, I believe Kirschbaum's study only provides a partial

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and Africa

Research paper thumbnail of Brevity is the soul of wit

Research paper thumbnail of “Fright the ladies out of their wits”: Gendered passion and the English stage

Research paper thumbnail of French Perspectives on Digital Humanities: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité?

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Nov 1, 2011

In studying 'digital humanities', what might seem to be mainly technical or academic concerns pro... more In studying 'digital humanities', what might seem to be mainly technical or academic concerns prove to have real political implications. This paper discusses the infrastructure, methodology, and applications created by a new generation of researchers with the help of digital humanities which can help lend academia a new sense of purpose, rather than a purpose per se, by questioning the notions of literacy, accessibility, autonomy of thinking and learning at the heart of modern universities. Digital humanities may help rekindle academics' embattled feeling that they belong to a community (of learning, of thought). This paper also argues that new forms of research require new evaluation criteria which value collaboration and open access over competition and market-based point-scoring. Whether this can be achieved in France remains to be seen, but the freedom of expression, openness and responsiveness afforded by digital humanities might prove truly revolutionary, allowing "the people" to educate themselves despite every effort by policymakers to determine who and what should be taught.

Research paper thumbnail of Amphibologie et parole jésuitique à la renaissance: entre poétique et politique

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2006

L'ambiguïté de la parole oraculaire est semblable, sinon la même, que celle que l'on prête aux fi... more L'ambiguïté de la parole oraculaire est semblable, sinon la même, que celle que l'on prête aux figures de rhétorique comme l'amphibologie ou l'équivoque, "when we speake or write doubtfully and that the sence may be taken two wayes" 1. Nombreux sont les auteurs au XVI e siècle qui condamnent l'usage de ces figures, car elles font preuve d'une subtilité toute démoniaque en jouant sur des mots a priori innocents pour tromper les hommes. De la même façon, tout exercice prophétique ou divinatoire est regardé d'un mauvais oeil : qui nous dit qu'une « vision » n'est pas le produit de Satan ? Pourtant, Shakespeare a exploité la figure de l'amphibologie, surtout dans ses pièces historiques, et il a également mis en scène des oracles et des prophéties. Est-ce à dire que, dans le théâtre de Shakespeare, la parole oraculaire, l'amphibologie et la narration historique sont intrinsèquement liées ? En prenant le cas de l'amphibologie, je chercherai à interroger les liens entre poétique et politique. Ce faisant, je pourrai faire apparaître quelques * Communication faite au Congrès de la S.A.E.S. de Nantes en mai 2006.

Research paper thumbnail of Marguerite A. Tassi, Women and Revenge in Shakespeare. Gender, Genre and Ethics (Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press, 2011)

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Le sauvage et le courtisan : Une lecture du théâtre élisabéthain

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Language and Otherness in Renaissance Culture

Your Highness knows, comes to no further use But to be known and hated (4.4.71-3). To no further ... more Your Highness knows, comes to no further use But to be known and hated (4.4.71-3). To no further use in court, perhaps. But if the prodigal Hal, alone in the histories, achieves something like epic status, it is also because, on the climactic eve of Agincourt, he would again, this time cloaked in darkness rather than debauchery, listen avidly to the language of the social other, haunting the ranks of the common soldiers to sound them out and thus 3 1 Cor 9-10 in the concluding moments of Act 4 scene 1 of the play. All references to A Midsummer Night's Dream,

Research paper thumbnail of Mary Stuart’s Bouncing Head

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2020

XVIe siècle, en France et en Angleterre, le théâtre et l'échafaud sont consubstantiels, tous deux... more XVIe siècle, en France et en Angleterre, le théâtre et l'échafaud sont consubstantiels, tous deux des lieux surélevés qui donnent à voir un spectacle tragique devant un parterre de spectateurs1. Ce lien informe la production dramatique de l'époque, marquée par une grande violence, loin encore de l'esthétique classique de la seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle où les dramaturges étaient sommés de faire preuve de plus de retenue, suivant les règles de bienséance et de vraisemblance. Réciproquement, le théâtre a peut-être contribué à orienter l'interprétation des supplices et exécutions publics, cérémonies qui mettaient en scène et affirmaient le pouvoir de l'État d'après Michel Foucault2. Dans Surveiller et punir, ce dernier s'intéressait surtout à la disparition de ces spectacles publics et à la naissance d'un nouveau système punitif : un fait est là : a disparu, en quelques dizaines d'années, le corps supplicié, dépecé, amputé, symboliquement marqué au visage ou à l'épaule, exposé vif ou mort, donné en spectacle. A disparu le corps comme cible majeure de la répression pénale. […] La punition tendra donc à devenir la part la plus cachée du processus pénal3. 1 Christian Biet, « Naissance sur l'échafaud ou la tragédie du début du XVIIe siècle », Intermédialités : Histoire et théorie des arts, des lettres et des techniques, 1 (2003), p. 75-105.

Research paper thumbnail of The Spider and the Statue: Poisoned innocence in The Winter’s Tale

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Oct 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of From Genesitic Curiosity to Dangerous Gynocracy in Sixteenth-Century England

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - SHS, Jun 21, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Must we mean what we say? Coriolanus and ordinary language philosophy

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 16, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Politique de l'anecdote, ou l'histoire secrète du théâtre élisabéthain

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Mar 14, 2008

Research paper thumbnail of Puritan Economics in Measure for Measure

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of La langue de Shakespeare

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 1, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and Africa

Shakespeare en devenir, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of A Traitress, and a Dear": The Paradoxes of Women and Forensic Rhetoric in Early Modern Drama

Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris Descartes, Feb 9, 2015

Research paper thumbnail of Shakespeare and the supernatural

I Embodying the supernatural 29 1 Shakespeare's political spectres-Victoria Bladen 31 2 'Rudely s... more I Embodying the supernatural 29 1 Shakespeare's political spectres-Victoria Bladen 31 2 'Rudely stamped': supernatural generation and the limits of power in Shakespeare's Richard III-Chelsea Phillips 50 3 Digital puppetry and the supernatural: double Ariel in the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Tempest (2017)-Anchuli Felicia King 70 II Haunted spaces 85

Research paper thumbnail of Reconnaissance et « acknowledgment » sur la scène élisabéthaine

For poets like Sir Philip Sidney, the numerous incongruities found in Elizabethan drama fly in th... more For poets like Sir Philip Sidney, the numerous incongruities found in Elizabethan drama fly in the face of Aristotelian theory. London audiences in 1580-1600 would have been hard pressed to recognize the time and place of the action represented on stage from one scene to the next. By comparing Greek theory and Elizabethan practice, this paper highlights the epistemological and hermeneutic issues posed by "recognition scenes". In so doing, it also underlines the differences between plays and genres from 1580 to 1620 in England, as recognition scenes in The Spanish Tragedy or Richard III differ from those found in The Tempest or The Winter's Tale… Using Stanley Cavell's treatment of the notion of acknowledgment in Shakespeare's plays, this paper finally discusses the interplay between knowledge, acknowledgment, disowning and confession in recognition scenes.