Ceremony and Text in the Renaissance

Book excerpt: Ceremony and Text in the Renaissance is a contribution to the history of cultural semiotics in Early Modern Europe. Prof. Thomas M. Greene's theoretical exposition introduces a series of articles that consider the interaction between literary production and ceremonial performance in the larger cultural text of the Renaissance. The Renaissance engaged in a greater number of ceremonial performances than the preceding era, but the Reformation had irrevocably altered the language of ceremony, reducing its magical efficacity and diminishing its ability to inspire community. According to Professor Greene, the essays address one large but limited area of semiotic practice, the social role of ceremonial performance during the early modern period, examining the interplay between ceremonial and the narrative, dramatic, or poetic text.