“Contemporary Shakespeares” explores 21st century dramatic and literary responses to some of William Shakespeare’s early modern plays.
We will close-read two of Shakespeare’s plays: Hamlet (Part I) and The Tempest (Part II) and combine them with our reading and analysis of contemporary performances of the plays as well as adaptations of them in form of contemporary young adult / fiction.
In the process we will learn more about early modern theatrical conventions and early modern culture. We will look into the processes of transition from the early modern con/texts into 21st century performances and narrative texts: What happens (to the play and our understanding of the play and its central features) when the Shakespearean character Hamlet is turned into an eleven-year old first person narrator of a young adult novel set in 21st century Britain?
What happens when the plot of The Tempest is told by or from the perspectives of a British colonial official, Caliban and Miranda – set on 20th century Trinidad (Part II)?
We will discuss issues of identity, gender and race. We will discuss the characteristics of dramatic and narrative genres, and investigate the scholarly discourses on intertextuality, adaptation, and young adult fiction. We will also think about how reading Shakespeare's plays and their adaptations works and can be made productive in an English language learner's context (e.g. at uni and at school).
Please get your own copies of and start reading:
Part I:
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Revised Edition, Ed. Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, The Arden Shakespeare Third Series, 2016.
Matt Haig, The Dead Fathers Club, Penguin Books: 2006 (and later).
There will be further narrative texts for part I.
Part II
William Shakespeare, The Tempest, The Arden Shakespeare. Ed. Virginia M. Vaughan /Alden T. Vaughan (1999/2011)
Nunez, Prospero’s Daughter. A Novel (2006).
The novel by Nunez is sometimes difficult to get, i.e. you need to order it now.
Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed, The Hogarth Shakespeare (2017).
Part I&II: There will be a theatre outing to see “Was Ihr Wollt” at Theater in der Parkaue on Tuesday, 13th May 2025, 18:00; tickets 9€. |
