WiSe 16/17: MÜ-Constructing Difference: Literary and Cultural Histories: Shakespeare Today
Cordula Lemke
Comments
This year, 'Shakespeare at 400' has spawned major events in the tourist industry and beyond. It has also led to an increasing engagement with Shakespeare's texts by writers and directors whose off-shoots offer a multitude of new approaches. Attempts to turn Shakespeare into our contemporary may recall Stephen Greenblatt's famous "desire to speak with the dead" and often operate by translating the plays into other/newer forms of media. The term 'media' opens up a wide-ranging discussion. What do we understand by 'media'? Which forms of cultural engagement do we include? How do we interpret different media? Can we plausibly apply our methods from Literary Studies to other media? How do we compare motifs across different media? The tutorial will be looking at a range of theoretical texts from general questions to analyses of specific media and will discuss in how far these theories affect our contemporary engagement with Shakespeare's texts.
Texts:
William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice Jeanette Winterson, The Gap of Time Howard Jacobson, Shylock is my Name close15 Class schedule
Regular appointments