4th Denis Cosgrove Lecture: Shakespearean Landscapes, Professor Stuart Elden- 23rd May

23rd May, 6.30 pm (doors from 6.15pm), Lecture Hall, The British Academy, London

The Centre for the GeoHumanities is delighted to announce that the fourth Denis Cosgrove Lecture will be given by Professor Stuart Elden (University of Warwick). Stuart’s lecture is entitled: ‘Shakespearean Landscapes’.

The lecture, and the drinks reception after it are free to attend, but please book a place on Eventbrite

Abstract:

This lecture explores how Shakespeare’s plays evoke a sense of landscape. Shakespeare’s grasp of specific geographies could be shaky, but his plays are rich with a range of geographical themes, language and detail. Shakespeare lived and wrote at a time of colonial exploration and saw the development of many cartographic, navigational and land-measuring techniques.

The lecture builds on the argument of my recent book,  Shakespearean Territories, but explores a different yet related geographical theme – that of landscape. This is of course a theme which Denis Cosgrove examined so perceptively. The plays discussed will include some of Shakespeare’s most famous, such as Macbeth and King Lear, and lesser known ones including Timon of Athens.

 

Bio:

Stuart is Professor of Political Theory and Geography at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of books on territory, Michel Foucault, Martin Heidegger, and Henri Lefebvre. His most recent books are Shakespearean Territories (University of Chicago Press 2018); and Canguilhem (Polity 2019). He is currently working of a study of the very early Foucault, ending with the process of writing the History of Madness.