Edith Hall
Encyclopedia
Edith Hall is a British
scholar of classics
and cultural history
, and from 2006 until 2011 held a Research Chair at Royal Holloway, University of London
, where she directed the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome until November 2011, when she resigned over dispute regarding funding for classics. She also co-founded and is Consultant Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford University, Chairman of the Gilbert Murray Trust, and Judge on the Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation. Her prizewinning doctoral thesis was awarded at Oxford.
(awarded in 1982) and a DPhil degree at St Hugh's College, Oxford
(awarded in 1988). She held posts at the universities of Cambridge
, Reading, Oxford
and Durham
, and visiting chairs at several North America
n institutions, before taking up her post at Royal Holloway.
Known for her humorous style of lecturing, Hall has made many television and radio appearances as well as acting as consultant for professional theatre productions by the National Theatre
, Shakespeare's Globe
, the Royal Shakespeare Company
, Live Theatre in Newcastle
, and Theatercombinat in Germany
. She is an advocate of ‘Classical Reception’ – studying the ancient world through the way that its culture has been received by later epochs, whether in fiction, drama, cinema, poetry, political theory, or philosophy. Her research has been influential in three distinct areas: (1) the representation of ethnicity; (2) the social and ideological role played by theatre (especially Greek tragedy) in both the ancient and modern worlds; (3) the uses made by Classical culture in European education, identity, and political theory.
an identity relied on the stereotyping as ‘other’ of an Asia
tic enemy. Her argument that ancient ideas about ethnicity underlie modern questions of nationalism
, racism
and ethnic self-determination has been extremely influential in Classics, and regarded as ‘seminal’ by scholars in other fields. This work was developed in her scholarly commentary on the Greek text of Aeschylus
’ Persians
, with English translation (1996).
, as ‘indispensable for all students of the Roman Empire.’
When a lecturer at Oxford in 1996 she co-founded, with Oliver Taplin, the interdisciplinary Archive of Performances of Greek & Roman Drama. The project collects and analyses materials related to the staging and influence of classical plays. The project’s ten co-edited volumes, of which Hall is lead editor of seven and contributor to nine, have been described as playing ‘a pivotal role in establishing the parameters and methodologies of the study of the reception of Classical drama in performance’. The most substantial book to emerge from the project is the 220,000-word Greek Tragedy and the British Theatre 1660-1914, co-authored with Fiona Macintosh, which in 2006 was shortlisted for both the Theatre Society Book of the Year Prize (2006), the J.D. Criticos prize and the Runciman Prize.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
scholar of classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
and cultural history
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
, and from 2006 until 2011 held a Research Chair at Royal Holloway, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, where she directed the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome until November 2011, when she resigned over dispute regarding funding for classics. She also co-founded and is Consultant Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama at Oxford University, Chairman of the Gilbert Murray Trust, and Judge on the Times Stephen Spender Prize for poetry translation. Her prizewinning doctoral thesis was awarded at Oxford.
Overview
Edith Hall studied for a BA degree in Classics & Modern Languages at Wadham College, OxfordWadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
(awarded in 1982) and a DPhil degree at St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986...
(awarded in 1988). She held posts at the universities of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, Reading, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and Durham
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
, and visiting chairs at several North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n institutions, before taking up her post at Royal Holloway.
Known for her humorous style of lecturing, Hall has made many television and radio appearances as well as acting as consultant for professional theatre productions by the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
, the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, Live Theatre in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, and Theatercombinat in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She is an advocate of ‘Classical Reception’ – studying the ancient world through the way that its culture has been received by later epochs, whether in fiction, drama, cinema, poetry, political theory, or philosophy. Her research has been influential in three distinct areas: (1) the representation of ethnicity; (2) the social and ideological role played by theatre (especially Greek tragedy) in both the ancient and modern worlds; (3) the uses made by Classical culture in European education, identity, and political theory.
Representation of ethnicity
Hall’s first monograph, Inventing the Barbarian (1989), argued that ancient EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an identity relied on the stereotyping as ‘other’ of an Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
tic enemy. Her argument that ancient ideas about ethnicity underlie modern questions of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and ethnic self-determination has been extremely influential in Classics, and regarded as ‘seminal’ by scholars in other fields. This work was developed in her scholarly commentary on the Greek text of Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
’ Persians
The Persians
The Persians is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. First produced in 472 BCE, it is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre...
, with English translation (1996).
Theatre and society
Several of her books argue that theatre history plays an important role in intellectual and cultural history, especially because entertainments reach lower-status audiences. These include Greek and Roman Actors (2002, with Professor Pat Easterling), and The Theatrical Cast of Athens (2006), which incorporates a revisiting of Inventing the Barbarian in the light of developments in international history since 1989. New Directions in Ancient Pantomime (2008), the first study of the balletic performance of mythological narratives which educated mass audiences across the ancient Mediterranean world for several centuries, was praised by D. Feeney, Prof. of Latin at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, as ‘indispensable for all students of the Roman Empire.’
When a lecturer at Oxford in 1996 she co-founded, with Oliver Taplin, the interdisciplinary Archive of Performances of Greek & Roman Drama. The project collects and analyses materials related to the staging and influence of classical plays. The project’s ten co-edited volumes, of which Hall is lead editor of seven and contributor to nine, have been described as playing ‘a pivotal role in establishing the parameters and methodologies of the study of the reception of Classical drama in performance’. The most substantial book to emerge from the project is the 220,000-word Greek Tragedy and the British Theatre 1660-1914, co-authored with Fiona Macintosh, which in 2006 was shortlisted for both the Theatre Society Book of the Year Prize (2006), the J.D. Criticos prize and the Runciman Prize.
Classics and society
In recent years, the emphasis of Hall's research has moved into Cultural History, especially the social role played by the presence of ancient Greece and Rome. In 2007 she opened the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome at Royal Holloway, University of London. Here the research focuses on the bridges between modernity and Mediterranean antiquity, especially in relation to citizenship and identity. The centre has held conferences exploring British Imperialism and the Classics in India 1757-2007, on Ancient Slavery and 19th-century Abolition, on Trips to the Moon from Lucian to modern Science Fiction, Classics and Thought in France, and Classics and Social Class. The centre’s first publication was Hall’s monograph The Return of Ulysses: a Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey (2008, shortlisted for the Criticos Prize), noted for its scholarship and accessibility. Her most recent book, Greek Tragedy: Suffering under the Sun, argues that Greek tragedy is a deeply philosophical medium, includes an essay on every surviving ancient Greek tragedy and has been described as ‘admirably exhaustive’.Selected publications
- Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy (OUPOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1989) - Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus the King, Electra (OUP, 1994)
- Aeschylus’ Persians: Edited with Translation and Commentary (1996)
- Dionysus since 69: Greek Tragedy at the Dawn of the Third Millennium (2004)
- Greek Tragedy and the British Theatre 1660-1914 (2005, with Fiona Macintosh)
- The Theatrical Cast of Athens: Interactions between Ancient Greek Drama & Society (2006)
- Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars (OUP, 2007)
- Aristophanes in Performance (Legenda, 2007)
- The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey (2007)
- New Directions in Ancient Pantomime (2008, with Rosie Wyles)
- Sophocles and the Greek Tragic Tradition (CUPCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2009, with Simon Goldhill) - Greek Tragedy: Suffering Under the Sun (OUP, 2010)
- Theorising Performance (Duckworth, 2010)