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Shakespeare as German Author, edited by John McCarthy, revisits in particular the formative phase of German Shakespeare reception 1760-1830. Following a detailed introduction to the historical and theoretical parameters of an era in search of its own literary voice, six case studies examine Shakespeare's catalytic role in reshaping German aesthetics and stage production. They illuminate what German speakers found so appealing (or off-putting) about Shakespeare's spirit, consider how translating it nurtured new linguistic and aesthetic sensibilities, and reflect on its relationship to German Geist through translation and cultural transfer theory. In the process, they shed new light, e.g., on the rise of Hamlet to canonical status, the role of women translators, and why Titus Andronicus proved so influential in twentieth-century theater performance.
Contributors are: Lisa Beesley, Astrid Dröse, Johanna Hörnig, Till Kinzel, John A. McCarthy, Curtis L. Maughan, Monika Nenon, Christine Nilsson.
List of contents
PrefaceNotes on Contributors1 The "Great Shapesphere": German Shakespeare Reception, Cultural Transfer and Translation Theory. An IntroductionJohn A. McCarthy2 Johann Joachim Eschenburgs Shakespeare zwischen Regelpoetik und GenieästhetikTill Kinzel3 Christoph Mvartin Wielands Hamletübersetzung und ihre Bühnenwirkung: Zu Franz von Heufelds und Friedrich Ludwig Schröders Hamlet-AdaptionenMonika Nenon4 Übersetzung als Dialog: Christoph Martin Wielands Ein St. Johannis Nachts-Traum und August Wilhelm von Schlegels Der SommernachtstraumLisa Beesley5 Schiller zähmt Shakespeare. Der Weimarer Macbeth (1800/1801) im Licht der Kulturtranstransfer-ForschungAstrid Dröse6 Dorothea Tieck und Shakespeares Macbeth: Weibliche Aspekte des KulturtransfersJohanna Hörnig7 Who Owns Hamlet? Gerhart Hauptmann's Reconstruction of the Danish PrinceCurtis L. Maughan8 Schändung, eine "Übermalung." Botho Strauss' theatralische Transformation einer ÜbersetzungChristine NilssonBibliographyIndex
Report
"The collection as a whole appears well-structured, coherent and highly informative and should thus be added to any future reading done by those interested in German Shakespeare Studies and/or German Translation Studies."
-Form for Modern Language Studies, vol. 55, iss. 2, April 2019
"[Shakespeare as German Author] is ultimately an important and new approach to Shakespeare's reception in German culture. Shakespeare's plays are viewed as a complex case of cultural transfer in which the practices of translation, adaptation, and performances are embedded...this book [is] both rewarding and comfortable for scholars."
-Peter Höyng , Emery University, in Goethe Yearbook of North America, vol. 27 (2020), pp. 374-75
"[Shakespeare as German Author] reveals the importance of early translations for the process of cultural transfer, but the chapters also chart how quickly translation becomes transformation, and the book is at its most interesting when considering the theatrical and performance contexts that move us beyond translation and towards adaptation, or even co-authorship. In doing so, the volume reveals how processes of cultural transfer not only empowered early Shakespeare reception, but continue to drive Germany's cultural relationship with Shakespeare today." - Benedict Schofield, King's College London, in Monatshefte, vol 112, iss. 3 (2020), pp. 537-539
