Abstract

The essays collected in this volume were initially presented at the Second International Conference on Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts, held at the University of Wales Aberystwyth, May 5-7, 2007. The conference was organised on the basis of the success of its predecessor in 2005, and on the basis of the success of the Rodopi book series Consciousness, Literature and the Arts, which has to date seen six volumes in print, with another twenty in press or in the process of being written. The conference also marked the launch of the second volume in the Intellect series Theatre and Consciousness with Michael Mangan's Performing Dark Arts. The 2007 conference and the two book series highlight the continuing growth of interest within the interdisciplinary field of consciousness studies, and in the distinct disciplines of theatre studies, literary studies, film studies, fine arts and music in the relationship between the object of these disciplines and human consciousness.