No Cover Image

Journal article 358 views 40 downloads

Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre

Sally Barnden Orcid Logo

Adaptation, Volume: 17, Issue: 1, Pages: 115 - 124

Swansea University Author: Sally Barnden Orcid Logo

  • 64918.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

    Download (83.17KB)

Abstract

This essay assesses the afterlives in film, theatre, and scholarship of a sixteenth-century legal proceeding in which a Basque peasant named Martin Guerre was subject to identity theft. Focusing on the 1996 West End musical, the essay proposes that the conventions of musical theatre allowed this ada...

Full description

Published in: Adaptation
ISSN: 1755-0637 1755-0645
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2024
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64918
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
first_indexed 2023-11-06T10:53:41Z
last_indexed 2023-11-06T10:53:41Z
id cronfa64918
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rfc1807 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>64918</id><entry>2023-11-06</entry><title>Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-6186-5572</ORCID><firstname>Sally</firstname><surname>Barnden</surname><name>Sally Barnden</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2023-11-06</date><deptcode>CACS</deptcode><abstract>This essay assesses the afterlives in film, theatre, and scholarship of a sixteenth-century legal proceeding in which a Basque peasant named Martin Guerre was subject to identity theft. Focusing on the 1996 West End musical, the essay proposes that the conventions of musical theatre allowed this adaptation to revise earlier versions of the story in response to then-current concerns in historiography, in particular, those of new historicist criticism. It argues that the musical’s focus on the female lead’s knowledge and consent, informed by the cultural context of the 1990s, constituted a key intervention in the adaptive history of the Martin Guerre story. And it examines the musical’s engagement with new historicist ideas about the contingency of early modern identity, noting that the lyrics and structure present a contrast between a contingent identity reliant on property ownership, kinship bonds, and religious community with a more ‘modern’ identity based on psychological continuity and unique selfhood. In conclusion, the essay proposes Martin Guerre as a case study for broader questions about how historical individuals’ agency can be represented in adaptation.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Adaptation</journal><volume>17</volume><journalNumber>1</journalNumber><paginationStart>115</paginationStart><paginationEnd>124</paginationEnd><publisher>Oxford University Press (OUP)</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>1755-0637</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1755-0645</issnElectronic><keywords>New historicism, identity, historiography, agency, knowledge, consent, early modern, musical theatre</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>3</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2024</publishedYear><publishedDate>2024-03-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1093/adaptation/apad035</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Culture and Communications School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>CACS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2024-09-30T14:38:54.7873225</lastEdited><Created>2023-11-06T09:59:29.6631253</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Sally</firstname><surname>Barnden</surname><orcid>0000-0002-6186-5572</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>64918__29201__9b473bfc5743420d8c132f227d357614.pdf</filename><originalFilename>64918.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2023-12-04T15:18:03.3763282</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>85169</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling v2 64918 2023-11-06 Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803 0000-0002-6186-5572 Sally Barnden Sally Barnden true false 2023-11-06 CACS This essay assesses the afterlives in film, theatre, and scholarship of a sixteenth-century legal proceeding in which a Basque peasant named Martin Guerre was subject to identity theft. Focusing on the 1996 West End musical, the essay proposes that the conventions of musical theatre allowed this adaptation to revise earlier versions of the story in response to then-current concerns in historiography, in particular, those of new historicist criticism. It argues that the musical’s focus on the female lead’s knowledge and consent, informed by the cultural context of the 1990s, constituted a key intervention in the adaptive history of the Martin Guerre story. And it examines the musical’s engagement with new historicist ideas about the contingency of early modern identity, noting that the lyrics and structure present a contrast between a contingent identity reliant on property ownership, kinship bonds, and religious community with a more ‘modern’ identity based on psychological continuity and unique selfhood. In conclusion, the essay proposes Martin Guerre as a case study for broader questions about how historical individuals’ agency can be represented in adaptation. Journal Article Adaptation 17 1 115 124 Oxford University Press (OUP) 1755-0637 1755-0645 New historicism, identity, historiography, agency, knowledge, consent, early modern, musical theatre 1 3 2024 2024-03-01 10.1093/adaptation/apad035 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University Not Required 2024-09-30T14:38:54.7873225 2023-11-06T09:59:29.6631253 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing Sally Barnden 0000-0002-6186-5572 1 64918__29201__9b473bfc5743420d8c132f227d357614.pdf 64918.VOR.pdf 2023-12-04T15:18:03.3763282 Output 85169 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
spellingShingle Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
Sally Barnden
title_short Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
title_full Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
title_fullStr Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
title_full_unstemmed Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
title_sort Women's knowledge and musical form: adapting historical identities in Martin Guerre
author_id_str_mv a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803
author_id_fullname_str_mv a657184d4afcb1c588202ebc2428d803_***_Sally Barnden
author Sally Barnden
author2 Sally Barnden
format Journal article
container_title Adaptation
container_volume 17
container_issue 1
container_start_page 115
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 1755-0637
1755-0645
doi_str_mv 10.1093/adaptation/apad035
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Literature, Creative Writing
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description This essay assesses the afterlives in film, theatre, and scholarship of a sixteenth-century legal proceeding in which a Basque peasant named Martin Guerre was subject to identity theft. Focusing on the 1996 West End musical, the essay proposes that the conventions of musical theatre allowed this adaptation to revise earlier versions of the story in response to then-current concerns in historiography, in particular, those of new historicist criticism. It argues that the musical’s focus on the female lead’s knowledge and consent, informed by the cultural context of the 1990s, constituted a key intervention in the adaptive history of the Martin Guerre story. And it examines the musical’s engagement with new historicist ideas about the contingency of early modern identity, noting that the lyrics and structure present a contrast between a contingent identity reliant on property ownership, kinship bonds, and religious community with a more ‘modern’ identity based on psychological continuity and unique selfhood. In conclusion, the essay proposes Martin Guerre as a case study for broader questions about how historical individuals’ agency can be represented in adaptation.
published_date 2024-03-01T14:38:53Z
_version_ 1811628460195446784
score 11.035634