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Seclusion, Alert Mind Believed Drama Research Prerequisites
"To be a good researcher, you have to be able to bury yourself in a library and not worry about the world outside." Prof. Walter J. Meserve of the English department said yesterday.
The professor was speaking to an audience, predominantly graduate students in drama, about "Research in American Drama," at a Speech and Drama Colloquium in Murphy Hall.
PROF. MESERVE listed three other essential qualifications one should have in order to be a good researcher in drama: a concern for facts, a sound reasoning process, and the ability to write well.
Hall.
He defined the roles of the scholar, the critic and the researcher of American drama, and emphasized that the researcher should have "a thorough knowledge of the emotional, cultural and intellectual atmosphere" of the period he is studying.
"The researcher." he continued, "must be concerned with particulars. It's his job to accumulate and assess the facts. In doing this, he must acquire a very fine skepticism."
Skepticism is necessary because the researcher can expect to run into some 19th Century drama critics who "in their assessment, are unreliable." Prof. Meserve explained.
Wednesday, March 11, 1964 University Daily Kansan
"At one time," he pointed out, "the theater syndicate hired critics to review plays."
"WHEN DEALING with critical opinion in the 19th Century, "you have to remember who is writing, what is he writing for, and who he is writing for," he explained.
is writing.
Another concern of the researcher in American drama is textual problems, Prof. Meserve said. Piracy of plays was common in the 19th Century. Also, there are often several manuscript versions of the same play in existence, which creates the problem of establishing the original, or "deciding which one you think the author would have liked best," he said.
Examination of content of a play, such as social level, humor, satire, and names of characters, can often provide a key to the author's identity, or the authenticity of a manuscript version, the professor said.
script version, the problem
The main advantage of a textual
Art Contest This Week
An art contest, culminating in an exhibition and prizes for the winning entries, is being held this week by Delta Phi Delta, an honorary art organization.
Entries will be accepted until Friday, Dianne Turner, Kansas City, Mo. senior and publicity chairman for the organization said yesterday.
Entry blanks can be obtained at the design or drawing and painting office on the third floor of Strong Hall, the Kansas Union Bookstore, and Carter's Bookstore in downtown Lawrence.
An entry fee of $1.50 for up to two entries, and $3 for two to five entries will be charged. Proceeds will go toward an art scholarship, the recipient of which will be announced at the annual awards banquet this spring.
PRIZES and awards will be given for winning entries in ceramics, silversmithing, painting, graphics, and sculpture.
Preliminary judging of entries will begin on Friday. The judges are: R.W. McClosky of Hallmark Cards, James Hunt, art director at Washburn University in Topeka, and Gerald Bernstein, curator of the KU Museum of Art.
The winning entries will be announced at a tea to be held at 7 p.m. Sunday in the south lobby of the Kansas Union.
The exhibition of the winning entries will take place in the south lobby of the Kansas Union from March 5-20.
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study of a play is in learning about the creative process that goes into such a work. Also, he added, textual study reveals just what makes a successful play.
"IN THE ANALYSIS of any work, you find social and cultural forces at work on the dramatist," he said.
In concluding his talk, Prof. Meserve read from a research paper he wrote, "American Drama and the Rise of Realism."
SEVERAL OF the 19th Century's outstanding writers of realistic literature also tried their hand at writing blavs. Prof. Mesere said.
"Basically, realism in literature came because man was being forced to look at life more realistically," he said.
"Were their plays to represent them in American literature, however, their reputations today would be distinctly different from what they are. Both (Samuel) Clemens and (Henry) James were failures in
the theater. (William Dean) Howells was somewhat successful, but his realistic plays were enjoyed mainly by amateur theater groups," he added.
THE HIGH POINT for realism in American drama in the 19th Century was a play called "Margaret Fleming" by James A. Herne, the professor said.
Bret Harte and Stephen Crane were also drawn to the theater "both by its inherent fascination and by the possibility of a realistic drama," he said. But Harte and Crane also failed to write a successful play.
The play described the actions of a dissolute husband and his faithful, morally superior wife, Margaret. The realistic peak of the play occurred when in one scene, Margaret went through the motions of actually breast-feeding her child, he said.
"But this proved too much for the audience of 1891," he said. "Margaret Fleming" was banned in New York.
In the past professors have criticized the policies of the university; but it appears now that students are to have a chance to voice their opinions.
Students May Criticize KU
On the suggestion of George R. Waggoner, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Philosophical Bases of Absolutely Everything (PBOAE) is sponsoring a drive for letters of criticism about educational policies at KU.
"The suggestion was made some time ago, but Dean Waggoner gave us the go ahead yesterday," Donald Ingelrsud, Minneapolis, Minn. senior, chairman of PBOAE, said.
Students are asked to submit criticisms in specific but not detailed form. The letters must be signed.
From the letters received four or five will be selected and the authors asked to participate in a panel discussion before faculty members. "This really gives the students a chance to voice their complaints," Ingelsrud said.
The selection will be made late in April.
Letters may be left in the Student Union Activities office in the Kansas Union, or sent to;
Don Ingelsrud, Room 1122 West Campus Road, Lawrence, Kansas
Don Ingelsrud, Room 441.
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