Current Research

Combining my ongoing research into postdramatic dramaturgies, relationships between texts and performance and the writings of Nobel prize laureate Elfriede Jelinek, I am currently writing a monograph on the innovative postdramatic stagings of Elfriede Jelinek’s theatre texts by major German directors. Jelinek in Practice: German Directors' Theatre, Politics and Aesthetics will be published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. The book will be the first systematic exploration of the dynamics between Jelinek as a writer of no-longer-dramatic texts and the diverse approaches of a strong directors theatre (Regietheater).

Additional Information

PUBLICATIONS

Edited Books and Journal Issues

Elfriede Jelinek in the Arena: Sport, Cultural Understanding and Translation to Page and Stage, special issue guest edited by Allyson Fiddler and Karen Jürs-Munby, Austrian Studies, Vol. 11 (Modern Humanities Research Association, 2014), 262 pages.

Postdramatic Theatre and the Political: International Perspectives on Contemporary Performance, edited by Karen Jürs-Munby, Jerome Carroll and Steve Giles, Methuen/Bloomsbury (Methuen Drama Engage series), 2013, 324 pages.

Das Analoge sträubt sich gegen das Digitale? Die Materialität des Deutschen Theaters und die Virtuelle Welt (The Analogue resists the Digital? The Materiality of German Theatre and the Virtual World), co-edited with David Barnett, Moray McGowan, Theater der Zeit Recherchen Series No. 37, October 2006.

Book Translation

Translation and introduction of Hans-Thies Lehmann's Postdramatic Theatre (London/New York: Routledge, 2006), 214 pages, Introduction pp. 1-15.

Articles & Chapters

(Forthcoming), ‘Elfriede Jelinek and Werner Schwab: Heimat Critique and Dissections of Rightwing Populism’, Contemporary European Playwrights, edited by Maria Delgado, Dan Rebellato and Bryce Lease (commissioned chapter, submitted and awaiting review).

(Forthcoming), ‘The Seriousness of Comedy in Jelinek Stagings’ [‘Der Ernst der Komik in Jelinek Inszenierungen’], in Komik und Subversion, edited by Pia Janke and Christian Schenkermayr, accepted for publication currently available online at the Research Platform Jelinek, University of Vienna: https://fpjelinek.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/proj_ejfz/PDF-Downloads/Komik_-_Jürs-Munby-Beitrag.pdf

'The Proof is in the Pudding: Britische Theatrestücke "zwischen" Drama und postdramatischem Theater', in "Postdramatik" - Reflexion und Revision, edited by Pia Janke and Teresa Kovacs, Wien: Praesens Verlag, 2015.

'Agon, Conflict and Dissent: Elfriede Jelinek's Ein Sportstück and its Stagings by Einar Schleef and Just a Must Theatre', Elfriede Jelinek in the Arena: Sport, Cultural Understanding and Translation to Page and Stage, special issue guest edited by Allyson Fiddler and Karen Jürs-Munby, Austrian Studies, Vol. 11 (Modern Humanities Research Association, 2014), pp. 9-25.

‘Mythen weiblicher (Ohn-)Macht und ihre feministische Demontage im Theater: Machträume bei Bobby Baker und Elfriede Jelinek‘ [Myths of Female Power and their feminist deconstruction in performance: Spaces of Power in the work of Bobby Baker and Elfriede Jelinek‘], in Nina Birkner, Andrea Geier und Urte Helduser (eds), Spielräume des Anderen: Geschlecht und Alterität im postdramatischen Theater, Transcript, 2014.

‘Parasitic Politics: Elfriede Jelinek’s ‘Secondary Dramas’ Abraumhalde and FaustIn and out’, in Postdramatic Theatre and the Political: International Perspectives on Contemporary Performance, edited by Karen Jürs-Munby, Jerome Carroll and Steve Giles, Methuen/Bloomsbury (Methuen Drama Engage series), 2013, pp. 209-231.

'Abraumhalde; FaustIn and Out’ [‘Slag heap’; ‘Female Faust and Out’= Titles of Jelinek’s ‘secondary dramas’], in Pia Janke (ed), Jelinek-Handbuch, Stuttgart/Weimar: J.B. Metzler, 2013, pp. 203-207.

‘Inszenierungsformen’ [Forms of Staging], in Pia Janke (ed), Jelinek-Handbuch, Stuttgart/Weimar: J.B. Metzler, 2013, pp. 324-34.

'Der fremde, faszinierende, paradoxe Ort Theater: Gedanken zu Elfriede Jelineks neueren theatertheoretischen Essays'('The strange, fascinating and paradoxical site of theatre:reflections on Elfriede Jelineksrecent theatre theoretical essays'), Jelinek[Jahr]buch 2011, Praesens Verlag, Vienna, 2011, pp. 85-102.

'Ticker-Theater: von der Krise des Dramas und postdramatischem Echtzeittheater im Umgang mit der globalen Finanzkrise' ('Ticker theatre: of the crisis of drama and postdramatic real-time theatre in the face of the global financial crisis'), Lücken sehen…: Beiträge zu Theater, Literatur und Performance, Festschrift für Hans-Thies Lehmann zum 66. Geburtstag, edited by Martina Gross and Patrick Primavesi, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2010.

'Text Exposed: Displayed texts as players onstage in contemporary theatre', Studies in Theatre and Performance, 30.1. (January 2010), pp. 101-114.

'The Resistant Text in Postdramatic Theatre: Performing Elfriede Jelinek's Sprachflächen Performance Research, 14.1. (March 2009), pp. 46-56.

'Did you mean posttraumatic theatre? The Vicissitudes of Traumatic Memory in contemporary postdramatic performances', Performance Paradigm, 5.2. Special issue on: After Effects: Performing the Ends of Memory (October 2009), pp. 1-33. Available at: http://www.performanceparadigm.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/jurs-munby-posttraumatic-postdramatic-final-copy-with-images.pdf

'Hanswurst and Herr Ich: Subjection and Abjection in the Enlightenment Censorship of the Comic Figure', New Theatre Quarterly, Vol. 23(2), May 2007.

'Postdramatic Acting/Performing', in Performance Research 'Lexicon', Vol 11.3, Jan. 2007.

'"Ich will seicht sein": Elfriede Jelineks Schauspielmodel(l) als Medienstörung' ('"I want to be shallow": Elfriede Jelinek's model of acting as media interference'), in Das Analoge widersetzt sich dem Digitalen? Die Materialität des Deutschen Theaters und die Virtuelle Welt, edited by David Barnett, Moray McGowan and Karen Jürs-Munby, Theater der Zeit Recherchen Series No. 37, October 2006.

'Of Textual Bodies and Actual Bodies: G.E.Lessing's Abjection of Performance', Theatre Research International, Vol. 30, no. 1, 2005

Reviews and shorter publications

'Wie aktuell sind Elfriede Jelineks feministische Theatertexte der 70er und 80er Jahre?' ('How topical are Elfriede Jelinek's feminist theatre texts of the 1970s and 80s?'), transcript of a video conference between Allyson Fiddler, Christa Gürtler, Gitta Honegger, Pia Janke and Karen Jürs-Munby, Karen in Jelinek[Jahr]Buch, Praesens Verlag, Vienna, pp. 177-185. ISBN 978-3-7069-0606-7

Review of Small Acts of Repair: Performance, Ecology and Goat Island, edited by Stephen Bottoms and Matthew Goulish, in Theatre Research International, 34.3 (Aug 2009): 330-31.

Response to Apocryphal Theatre's The Jesus Guy (director Julia Barclay), Total Theatre Magazine, Aug. 2006.

Review of David Barnett, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and the German Theatre, Modern Drama, Volume 49, Number 3, Fall 2006, pp. 406-409

'Taking Stock and Looking Forward: The Past, Present and Future of Postdramatic Theatre', David Barnett in Conversation with Hans-Thies Lehmann and Karen Jürs-Munby, Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 16(4), 2006, p. 483-489.

Conference Papers. Lectures and Public Presentations

(May 2016), 'Reflecting on Representation and Transgressing the Aesthetic: Nicolas Stemann’s postdramatic staging of Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Schutzbefohlenen', Tragedy and the Contemporary, TAPRA interim conference, Glasgow.

(Feb 2016), 'The Politics of "Dematerialized Theatre" by Tim Crouch and Andy Smith', S:PAM (Studies in Performing Arts and Media) Lecture, Ghent University.

(Sept 2015) 'The "Marathon" Performance of Elfriede Jelinek’s Ein Sportstück/Sports Play: Dramaturgies of Duration and Endurance", Dramaturgy and Directing Working Group, TAPRA, Worcester, 2015.

(Apr 2015) ‘Figuring the Crash in Europe’s Financial Centre: How the Crisis provokes a Crisis of Representation in British Drama’, La tyrannie sans visage. Séquelles et effets de la crise à l'écran et sur la scène", Strassbourg.

(Apr 2014) Dialog: Emmanuel Béhague and Karen Jürs-Munby 'Postdramatische AutorInnen im Vergleich', „Sinn egal. Körper zwecklos: “
Postdramatik – Reflexion & Revision, Vienna

(Jan 2014) ‘”Postdramatik”? Aktuelle Forschungspositionen’, video conference organised by the Jelinek Research platform. http://fpjelinek.univie.ac.at/veranstaltungen/videokonferenz-postdramatik-2014/

(Dec 2013) ‘Pre-dramatic and post-dramatic theatre: before and after the fourth wall’,Cambridge Interdisciplinary Performance Network, Cambridge University.

(Sept 2012) ‘Resisting the Lollipop: Jelinek post/beyond Brecht’, TaPRA 2012, University of Kent

(July 2012) 'Agon and Conflict: Einar Schleef's theatre production of Elfriede Jelinek's Sportstück', conference on ‘Jelinek in the Arena: Sports, Cultural Understanding and Translation to Page and Stage’, Lancaster.

(Sept 2011) ‘Parasitic Politics: Staging of Elfriede Jelinek’s Post- and Secondary Dramas’, conference on ‘Postdramatic Theatre as/or Political Theatre’, IGRS, London 21-23 Sept 2011.

(Feb. 2011) 'Productive "Contra-laborations": Elfriede Jelinek and her Relationship to the Theatre', School of English Colloquium, University of Sussex.

(Nov. 2010) 'Mythen weiblicher (Ohn-)Macht und ihre feministische Demontage im Theater: Machträume bei Bobby Baker und Elfriede Jelinek', 'Anderes Theater - Theater des Anderen: Geschlecht und Alterität im postdramatischen Theater', Trier.

(March 2010) 'Spatializing Text: working with Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis', 20/20 Playwriting/Pedagogy, Birmingham

(March 2010) 'Ticker Text', Text and Theatre Symposium, Manchester Metropolitan University.

(Nov 2009) 'Events between script and freedom: improvising with text in contemporary experimental performance', Experimentality Workshop 2, Lancaster Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster.

(Sept. 2009) 'The Vexed Question of the Text in Postdramatic Theatre in a Cross-cultural Perspective', 'Dramatic and Postdramatic Theatre: Ten Years after', Faculty of Dramatic Arts Belgrade University and BITEF, Belgrade.

(July 2007) "Why Postdramatic Theatre is not Anti-textual: Performing the Resistance of Elfriede Jelinek's 'Text Surfaces'", presented at "Performing Literatures", Leeds.

(Feb 2007) "'I want to be shallow': Elfriede Jelinek's postdramatic theory of acting", presented at "How to Act", Central School of Speech and Drama, London.

(July 2006) Roundtable on postdramatic acting at Central School of Speech and Drama.

(Feb. 2006) "What's in the Post? - Introduction to Postdramatic Theatre", presented at: Beyond Drama: Postdramatic Theatre Symposium, Huddersfield University.

(Feb. 2006) "Taking Stock and Looking Forward: The Past, Present and Future of Postdramatic Theatre", David Barnett in Conversation with Hans-Thies Lehmann and Karen Jürs-Munby.

(Feb. 2006) "'There's a hole in this Performance': Tracing the Real in Goat Island's When will the September roses bloom? Last night was only a comedy", presented at: - (Feb 2006) Beyond Drama: Postdramatic Theatre Symposium, Huddersfield University. - (Nov 2005) IFTR/FIRT conference on "The Fictional and the Real in Contemporary Theatre", Jagellonian University, Krakow.

(Sept 2005) "'I want to be shallow': Elfriede Jelinek's Theory of Acting and its Relation to her critique of Mass Media", Contemporary German Drama Conference, Dublin.

(April 2005) "'I wish for a situation in which one could discard so-called acting': Kantor's Postdramatic Model of (Non-)-Acting", CPR conference "Towards Tomorrow", Aberystwyth.

(Jan. 2004) "Hanswurst and Herr Ich: Subjection and Abjection in the Enlightenment Censorship of the Comic Figure", invited lecture at a Research Seminar Glamorgan University

(Sept. 2003) "Hanswurst and Herr Ich", Clowns, Fools and Picaroes Conference, Belfast.

(Apr. 2001) "Of Textual Bodies and Actual Bodies: Lessing's Abjection of Performance", Performance Studies International, Mainz.

CURATION/ORGANIZATION

(July 2012) ‘Jelinek in the Arena: Sports, Cultural Understanding and Translation to Page and Stage’, conference at Lancaster, co-organized with Allyson Fiddler and Rebecca Braun.

(Sept 2011) International conference on 'Postdramatic Theatre as/or Political Theatre: Representation, Mediatisation and Advanced Capitalism', co-organized with Jerome Carroll and Steve Giles, 21st-23rd Sept 2011 at the IGRS, London.

(Sept 2007) Co-Chair of "The Future of the Text" workshop at "European Dramaturgy in the 21st Century", Frankfurt.

(Feb 2006) Beyond Drama: Postdramatic Theatre Symposium, Huddersfield University

PhD Supervision Interests

I welcome applications for postgraduate study in any of the following broad areas: Contemporary European/British/American drama, theatre and performance; Postdramatic theatre and performance; Theories, histories and contemporary practices of acting and performing; New writing and new dramaturgies; Intermedial practices in theatre; Text and Performance; Feminist theatre and performance; The work of Elfriede Jelinek; Theatre translation theory and practice.