WiSe 21/22: PS-Surveying English Literatures: Shakespeare and the Natural World
Peter Löffelbein
Hinweise für Studierende
Kommentar
The works of William Shakespeare are traditionally lauded for their exploration and representation of what it means to be human, or even credited with the “invention of the human” in the modern sense of the word (Bloom 1998). This course, however, will look at the ways Shakespearean texts explore what is called the natural world: non-human entities like animals, plants, and forces of nature.
Taking our cue from recent debates in the humanities such as the Material Turn and Ecocriticism, we will discuss the notions and roles of the above in select poems and plays, among them A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest. Our goal is to situate these texts’ explorations of the natural world in their historical contexts and to discuss their relevance for today’s debates.
The course aims at familiarising the participants with Shakespeare’s works as well as recent developments in literary studies while exploring the extent to which the texts under discussion resonate with contemporary concerns.
Bloom, Harold (1998). Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York 1998. Schließen
16 Termine
Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung