We were sorry to learn of the passing of Bruce Smith in June 2024. Bruce’s Acoustic World of Early Modern England: Attending to the ‘O’ Factor (1999) is a foundational text in sound and sensory studies, drawing attention to the phenomenology of sound and how it played a crucial role in understanding ways in which people experienced and inhabited their early modern worlds. It is the book that sparked an interest and curiosity in this subject in many of us, and his work in early modern gender and queer studies is equally pathbreaking and foundational.
An active, encouraging, collegial, and enthusiastic member of the Soundscapes network, in 2019, Bruce participated in our second workshop, which addressed ‘The Architecture of the Soundscape’. This workshop was hosted by Alex Fisher and Green College at the University of British Columbia, where Bruce was Cecil H. and Ida Green Visiting Professor. A recording of the keynote he delivered, “What is (Are?) Sound Studies and What Shape is it (Are They?) in Now?” is available on the Soundscape’s website. It was a privilege to have known and worked with him.
Bruce was a prolific, astute, and capacious researcher, yet he wore his learning lightly. Few scholars wrote with such stunning clarity of argument and his judicious drawing from archival sources and theoretical approaches make his writing as enjoyable as it is compelling. Yet he was more likely to be seen taking a keen interest in, reflecting on, and responding to the work of others – perhaps especially the research of early career academics. Above all, he will be remembered for his kindness, generosity and curiosity. We asked friends, colleagues, and mentees to reflect on Bruce and his legacy.
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I’m so sorry to learn of Bruce’s passing. He was an immensely inventive scholar, a wonderful teacher, and such a gentle and lovely soul. I’ll miss him dearly.
I and some of my friends in the programme sometimes referred to him as our “cheerleader.” We meant it lovingly. He was always cheering us on. He would push us to keep writing, usually with a concise, thoughtfully worded comment and a twinkle in his eye.
His scholarship on sound, colour, and phenomenology broke all the rules of traditional literary studies. I count myself very lucky to have had the chance to study with him. When I want to situate my students in the early modern playgoing experience, I quote this passage from his book, The Acoustic World of the Renaissance: “Actor and audience share the same field of sound . . . The result is, or can be, a totalizing experience of sound that surrounds each hearer completely, penetrating his or her body through the ears, immersing him or her in the playful patterning of speech” (p.271).
Penelope Geng
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Bruce R. Smith was a distinguished Shakespeare scholar who made substantial contributions to the field of early modern literary studies. His extensive body of work encompasses a dazzling range of topics, including the historical contexts of Shakespeare’s plays, the sensory experiences of the early modern period, and the performance history of Shakespeare’s works. Smith’s scholarship is notable for its interdisciplinary approach, combining literary analysis with insights from history, gender studies, and sensory studies.
Beyond his publications, Smith influenced the field through his teaching and mentorship. As a professor at the University of Southern California, he guided numerous graduate students, many of whom have gone on to make their own significant contributions to Shakespeare studies. USC was fortunate that Smith’s commitment to training PhD students brought him to our English department from Georgetown University, where he had worked for many years. Coming into USC as a senior scholar, Smith brought energy, leadership, and kindness: he served as the chair of the English department, as well as chairing many promotion and dissertation committees for colleagues and students, hosting dinners, connecting colleagues, and generally making new friends and honouring old ones wherever he went.
Rebecca Lemon
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Bruce Smith was a field-changing scholar, his work on soundscapes in The Acoustic World of Early Modern England (1999) inspiring a generation of scholarship attending to the senses in the playhouse and beyond. Yet his legacy as a mentor, collaborator, and champion of emerging scholars is no less great. Coupling a genuine enthusiasm for new voices and perspectives with a complete lack of ego about his own eminent status in the field, Bruce supported dozens of early modernists with encouragement, community, references, and a willingness to contribute to conferences, essay collections and other forms of collaboration. Even as he approached retirement in 2024, Bruce remained as active as ever, peer reviewing widely and generously, and at work on numerous publications and research projects. No Shakespeare conference will be the same without him, and while both the field and the community of early modern studies are infinitely richer for his presence over many decades, his loss will be felt keenly amongst his colleagues, collaborators and friends for years to come.
Simon Smith
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As a mentor, Bruce had a gift for letting you fumble through chaos as he gently guided you to a solution, all the while letting you feel in control of where your project was going. Through a directed reading with him on revenge tragedy, field examinations, and his prospectus course, I benefited from this talent time and time again. His mentorship was always done with so light a touch that it was hard to see his effects until after the projects were over. He was a key figure in the transformation of a few scattered interests I had in revenge tragedy to the beginning of something coherent and I could see I wasn’t alone: part of the magic of that prospective course was seeing this phenomenon take place for other graduate students. A true testament to Bruce’s guidance is how often some of us would comment on that course years later – even after we had finished with degree in hand. If there is a kind, supportive, and necessary form in academia of letting as fall and get back up again, he provided that: he mentored us to find our voices, knowing full well it wasn’t a linear process.
Devin Toohey
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Bruce Smith was one of the most generous individuals and scholars I have ever known. As a graduate student, I emailed him asking for advice and direction on a dissertation chapter, fully expecting never to hear from him. He was a “course reader celebrity” and I couldn’t imagine he’d have time for me since I was a student at another institution. He wrote back within 24 hours (a feat of which I am still in awe now that I am a senior scholar and busy educator myself), offering advice, encouragement, and even a very early copy of an article he was working on that would eventually be published as a chapter in his 2009 book The Key of Green. This model of scholarly generosity is one toward which I continue to strive to this day.
In 2019, I sat on a Shakespeare Association of America roundtable with Bruce discussing the future of sound studies. To say I was honoured to share the dais with him as we laid out exciting new paths for the subdiscipline that informed my scholarly work from its very beginnings is an understatement. He was generous and gracious, always listening, constantly refining his own views, and forever learning from those around him. While his work is profoundly influential to all who encounter it, I think what I will hold close from my interactions with him over the years is his generous spirit and commitment to fostering future generations of scholars who want to push methodological and disciplinary boundaries.
Sarah Williams
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Reading Bruce Smith’s book changed my life. I can still recall the electrifying excitement with which I devoured every word of The Acoustic World of Early Modern England and thought, firstly, “wow—this is absolutely, brilliantly profound,” and secondly—given my interests in literature, sound, and music—“I might actually be able to contribute something to this field, too.” As if that experience alone wasn’t enough, meeting Bruce Smith changed my life again; words cannot convey the depths of my gratitude for his indefatigable support of my own scholarship. Bruce’s generosity, brilliance, voice, and laughter still resonate for me, and my hope is that they continue to do so for all who have had the good fortune to know him. May we be the sounding boards reflecting and amplifying both the intellectual brilliance and the immense human kindness that Bruce radiated throughout the world.
Jennifer Linhart Wood