230622 A History of Political Drama (S) (SoSe 2008)

The communal medium of theatre (and, latterly, film) can be analysed as symptomatic of socio-political and cultural anxieties on the one hand, and as an instrument of public education and identity-formation on the other hand. Drama that seeks to challenge existing ideologies and power structures has often used the existing literary canon in order to question and discuss the relations between dominant and marginalized cultures; and as far as the English-speaking world is concerned, no author carries more cultural prestige than William Shakespeare, the cultural icon of the English establishment.

In this seminar we are going to look at the ways in which "Shakespeare" has been adapted, appropriated, repositioned and refashioned in a number of different socio-political and cultural contexts across the globe.

N. B. Please make sure to (re-)read Othello and The Tempest before the beginning of the semester.

Texts:

W. Shakespeare, Othello, ed. Norman Sanders (New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2003)
W. Shakespeare, The Tempest, ed. David Lindley (New Cambridge Shakespeare, 2002)