HISTORY OF STUDIA UBB DRAMATICA

 

The scientific journal Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Dramatica was created at the beginning of 2006, as a semi-annual publication. It was marked as one of the most recent series in the extensive collection of academic journals issued by Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca. The publication of this particular academic journal is closely linked to the establishment and growth of the Faculty of Theatre and Television, currently Faculty of Theatre and Film, which, after more than a decade of functioning as a distinct Department within the Faculty of Letters (since 1991), became an independent, modern and dynamic institution within Babeş-Bolyai University, in 2005.

Since the Faculty of Theatre and Film offers two specializations, namely Performing Arts (within the Theatre Department, including Acting, Directing, Theatre) and Visual Arts (within the CFM Department, covering Cinematography, Filmology, Photography and Media), the first issue of Studia UBB Dramatica included articles, studies, essays, interviews, book reviews, show and film chronicles, grouped according to the fields of interest of professors and students of the faculty.

Along the years, the journal strived to constantly adapt to and meet the high level of scientific requirements of the academic environment, both in terms of form and content. The pages of our journal hosted many interesting articles and interviews conducted with notable personalities in the field of performing arts, both from our country and abroad. Among them, we can mention Silviu Purcărete, George Banu, Andrei Şerban, Visky Andras, Marian Popescu, Alina Nelega, Marc Bogaerts, Monique Banu Borie, David Zinder, Claudia Tatinge Nascimento, Jean- Jacques Lemêtre, Eugenio Barba, Roberto Bacci, Marco Biagini, Thomas Richards, Bearice Picon-Vallin, Patrice Pavis and many others.

From the very first issue onward, a considerable emphasis was put on publishing high-quality articles and studies related to the process of theatrical creation, interviews, chronicles and critical reviews of books, plays, film and theatre, or other cultural events in the area of performing arts.

While at the beginning, most texts accepted for publishing were written in several foreign languages (English, French and German) and in Romanian, from 2008 onwards, only the articles in the Chronicle section continued to be published in Romanian. Moreover, since 2012, the entire content of the journal was and is still published only in English and French, and each article, regardless of the language of publication, must include a summary in English.

The main reason for this choice of language(s) of publication was the aspiration towards more visibility and the fact that by introducing our journal to the international circuit of similar academic publications may facilitate the access of foreign specialists to the research results of Romanian professionals in the area of performing arts such as cinematography, theatre and other related fields.

Up until 2011, the publication dates of the journal were June and December anddepartment members of the Faculty coordinated the issues alternatively. Starting with 2012, Studia UBB Dramatica aligned with the international requirements setting the publication dates of international publications in the field of performing arts. Therefore, the publication dates of the journal were set for March and October of each calendar year. In addition, the cover and layout design of the journal went through a phase of restructuring and improvement, starting with issue 1/2014, which was dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the founding of Odin Teatret.
With regard to exercising the overall responsibility for the publishing of each issue, we must take into account the valuable work of the whole editorial team, consisting of outstanding professionals, members of our Faculty, as well as of national and international renowned specialists in the field. Besides the editor responsible for each issue, the editorial team has always been coordinated by an editor-in-chief: prof. dr. Liviu Maliţa exercised this authority until 2012 and was succeeded by conf. dr. Ştefana Pop-Curşeu, who took over this function up until now, being assisted by an editorial secretary (currently lect. dr. Mihai Pedestru) and by the editor-in-chief of all Studia series, Mrs. Alina Vesa.

In order to encourage scientific discipline and rigour, as well as to highlight a series of areas and fields of study that may prompt the interest of contemnporary theatre researchers and professionals in the field of performing arts, the need has been felt for regrouping different issues of the journal, especially on thematic criteria. Consequently, analytical and historical studies, essays, artists’ testimonials and critical reviews have been grouped over the years around topics such as:

-Rethinking Theatricality. Modes of Performing: On and Beyond Stage (1/2011);
-The Studio of the Artist, the Laboratory of Creation (2/2011);
-Tadeusz Kantor Today. Polish Theatre: Presence and Perspectives (1/2012);
-Rewriting, Revisiting and Adaptation of Dramatic Texts (2/2012);
-The Theatre’s Text Today: Production, Interpretation, Reception (1/2013);
-Le Théâtre et la nuit : au-delà et au cœur du dramatique. En l’honneur de Georges Banu (2/2013);
-Eugenio Barba. Celebrating 50 Years with Odin Teatret (1/2014);
-Mind, Body, Voice: Ways of Theatricality (2/2014);
-The Actor’s Body: Image, Metaphor and Sign (1/2015);
-Spectator’s Body, Emotions & Empathy (2/2015);
-DADA >100: Life/Art/Museum. Dadaism and Perfoming Arts (1/2016);
-DADA >100: Life/Art/Museum. Dadaism and Perfoming Arts II (2/2016);
-Narrative Structures in Contemporary Performing Arts (1/2017);
-New Perspectives in Theatre History and Criticism (2/2017);
-Romanian Theatre: New Perspectives. Celebrating the Centenary of modern Romania 1918-2018 (1/2018);
- Romanian Theatre Seen from Outside the Boders: Artistic and Critical Perspectives. Celebrating the Centenary of Modern Romania 1918-2018 (2/2018);
-Between Shaping Mirrors: Discourses on Performing Arts (1/2019);
-Copy-Past. Revaluating History, Memory and Archive in Cinema, Performing Arts and Visual Culture (2/2019);
-Images of Witchcraft: Theatre, Cinema, Visual & Performing Arts (1/2020).

The archive of Studia UBB Dramatica journal series is thus a mirror of the interests prevailing among performing arts professionals at the beginning of the 21st century. In this respect, we can safely assume that the current issues of the journal, as well as those that are still to be published continue to take stock of changes and challenges we are facing in the realm of theatre, film and other performing arts, now and in the future.