If you’ve ever thought to yourself “If I hear Gangnam Style one more time I’m going to go crazy”, you’re certainly not the first to make the connection.
University of Southern Queensland PhD student Lachlan Malone has won the Lloyd David Memorial Prize for his essay examining the link between music and madness in the Renaissance era.
The prize is awarded by the Australian New Zealand Shakespeare Association and Mr Malone was given the opportunity to present his winning paper at the University of Western Australia in Perth, as well as a $500 cash prize and mentoring from a senior member of the university to get the paper published in an international academic journal.
“There was a belief that certain sounds could become a negative influence on people and lead to disease or even madness,” Mr Malone said.
“They believed noise and dissonance could change you, both spiritually and physically and it was a belief supported by both the religious and the medical sectors of the time.”
Mr Malone, a Creative Arts student, said he was quite surprised when he heard his essay had won the competition.
“I managed to look at some other submissions when I was in Perth and some of them were just brilliant; I thought they would win for sure,” he said.
“The best part was being able to meet other young scholars from all around the world at the event.”
He has also been accepted to present a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference to be held in Canada during March, where he will be accompanied by USQ Associate Professor in English and Cultural Studies Lawrence Johnson and USQ Senior Lecturer Dr Darryl Chalk.
Mr Malone said he would be delivering a paper on Hamlet and the subtle jabs Shakespeare was taking at the religious and scientific rhetoric of the day, while Assoc Prof Johnson will be running a seminar at the conference.
The subject of noise and madness is one element of Mr Malone’s broader PhD studies, where he is examining views of the Pope as the Antichrist in literature and plays during the Shakespeare era, as supervised by Dr Chalk and Assoc Prof Johnson.
“Dissonant sounds were used a lot in plays to paint Catholics and the Pope as evil or untrustworthy,” he said.
“There were conceptions and exaggerations of what a Catholic would sound like, what he would smell like, what he would look like and the influence those senses could have on other people.”
Thanks to the efforts of Shakespeare aficionados such as Dr Chalk and Assoc Prof Johnson, USQ has been selected as the host of the next Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association conference to be held in 2014.
Media contact:
Jim Campbell, email: jim.campbell@usq.edu.au, Phone: 07 4631 2977.
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