Title: Shakespeare in purgatory: (re)writing the history of the post-war reception
Source document: Theatralia. 2021, vol. 24, iss. Special Issue, pp. 17-32
Extent
17-32
-
ISSN1803-845X (print)2336-4548 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/TY2021-S-2
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/143671
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
The aim of the essay is to reflect on the current substantial and ethical complexity of the research into the history of Shakespeare reception in the post-war period, both within the Polish national context and, by parallel, within a wider context of post-Communist countries. This refers in particular to the large-scale release of documents, testimonies, and archives which cast light on the operation of Communist authorities in respect of artists and men of letters, revealing a variety of manipulative mechanisms such as censorship or selective patronage. Secondly, the essay proceeds to scrutinise the contents of the Archives of Jan Kott, showcasing the traces of Kott's continuous preoccupation with Shakespeare's themes and productions. The (un)finished projects (such as 1973 Hamlet) elucidate Kott's understanding of history and his compelling ability to endow drama with a contemporary and universal appeal.
References
[1] Archiwum Jana Kotta [Archive of Jan Kott]. Archiwum Emigracji, Biblioteka UMK in Toruń.
[2] BRAUN, Kazimierz. 1996. A History of Polish Theater, 1939–1989: Spheres of Captivity and Freedom. Westport-London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
[3] BŽOCHOVÁ-WILD, Jana (ed.). 2014. 'In double trust': Shakespeare in Central Europe. Bratislava: Vysoká škola múzických umení, Divadelná fakulta, 2014.
[4] CINPOEŞ, Nicoleta. 2010. Shakespeare's Hamlet in Romania 1778–2008. Translation, Performance and Cultural Appropriation. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.
[5] DERRIDA, Jacques. 1995. Archive Fever. A Freudian Impression. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1995.
[6] GOMBROWICZ, Witold. 1986. Dziennik 1953–1956 [Diary 1953–1956]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1986.
[7] GREENBLATT, Stephen. 1989. Shakespearean Negotiations. The Circulation of Social Power in Renaissance England. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
[8] HARASZTI, Miklós. 1987. The Velvet Prison. Artists under State Socialism. Transl. by Katalin and Stephen Lardesmann. New York: Basic Books, 1987.
[9] HATTAWAY, Michael, Boika SOKOLOVA and Derek ROPER (eds.). 1994. Shakespeare in the New Europe. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.
[10] KLEMENTOWSKI, Robert and Sebastian LIGARSKI (eds.). 2008. Artyści a Służba Bezpieczeństwa. Aparat bezpieczeństwa wobec środowisk twórczych [Artists vs. the Security Service. The Policies of the Security Service Towards Artists' Communities]. Wrocław: Oddział Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej – Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu we Wrocławiu, 2008.
[11] KOTT, Jan. 1964. Shakespeare, Our Contemporary. Transl. by Bolesław Taborski. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964.
[12] KOTT, Jan. 1973. Projekt scenieczny Hamleta. In Archiwum Jana Kotta [Archive of Jan Kott]. Archiwum Emigracji, Biblioteka UMK in Toruń, 1973.
[13] KOTT, Jan. 1994. Still Alive. An Autobiographical Essay. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994.
[14] KUBIKOWSKI, Tomasz. 2006. Pustka i forma [Void and Form]. In Tomasz Płaza (ed.). Strategie publiczne, strategie prywatne. Teatr polski 1990–2005 [Public Strategies, Private Strategies. Polish Theatre 1990–2005]. Warszawa: Świat literacki, 2006: 7–22.
[15] KUJAWIŃSKA-COURTNEY, Krystyna. 2007. From Kott to Commerce: Shakespeare in Communist and Post-Communist Poland. In Krystyna Kujawińska-Courtney and R.S. White (eds.). Shakespeare's Local Habitations. Łódź: Łódź University Press, 2007: 13–27.
[16] MAKARYK, Irena and Joseph G. PRICE (eds.). 2013. Shakespeare in the World of Communism and Socialism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013.
[17] MÁRKUS, Zoltán, 2012. Kott in the West. In Hugh Grady (ed.). Empson, Wilson Knight, Barber, Kott: Great Shakespeareans, vol. XIII. New York: Continuum, 2012: 153–174.
[18] MCGANN, Jerome. 2014. A New Republic of Letters. Memory and Scholarship in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
[19] NICOLAESCU, Madalina. 2012. Kott in the East. In Hugh Grady (ed.). Empson, Wilson Knight, Barber, Kott: Great Shakespeareans, vol. XIII. New York: Continuum, 2012: 130–153.
[20] SAWICKA, Zofia. 2010. Jan Kott – droga do Szekspira [Jan Kott – Road to Shakespeare]. Culture.pl (13. 05. 2010). [accessed on 23.08.2020]. Available online at https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/jan-kott-droga-do-szekspira.
[21] SCHANDL, Veronika. 2009. Socialist Shakespeare Productions in Kádár-regime Hungary. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009.
[22] SHAKESPEARE, William. 2017 [2006]. Hamlet. Revised Edition. Ed. by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor. London and Oxford: Bloomsbury, 2017.
[23] ŚWIĄTKOWSKA, Wanda. 2019. Hamlet.pl. Myślenie Hamletem w powojennej kulturze polskiej [Hamlet.pl. Thinking Through Hamlet in the Polish Post-war Culture]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2019.
[2] BRAUN, Kazimierz. 1996. A History of Polish Theater, 1939–1989: Spheres of Captivity and Freedom. Westport-London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
[3] BŽOCHOVÁ-WILD, Jana (ed.). 2014. 'In double trust': Shakespeare in Central Europe. Bratislava: Vysoká škola múzických umení, Divadelná fakulta, 2014.
[4] CINPOEŞ, Nicoleta. 2010. Shakespeare's Hamlet in Romania 1778–2008. Translation, Performance and Cultural Appropriation. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.
[5] DERRIDA, Jacques. 1995. Archive Fever. A Freudian Impression. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1995.
[6] GOMBROWICZ, Witold. 1986. Dziennik 1953–1956 [Diary 1953–1956]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, 1986.
[7] GREENBLATT, Stephen. 1989. Shakespearean Negotiations. The Circulation of Social Power in Renaissance England. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
[8] HARASZTI, Miklós. 1987. The Velvet Prison. Artists under State Socialism. Transl. by Katalin and Stephen Lardesmann. New York: Basic Books, 1987.
[9] HATTAWAY, Michael, Boika SOKOLOVA and Derek ROPER (eds.). 1994. Shakespeare in the New Europe. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.
[10] KLEMENTOWSKI, Robert and Sebastian LIGARSKI (eds.). 2008. Artyści a Służba Bezpieczeństwa. Aparat bezpieczeństwa wobec środowisk twórczych [Artists vs. the Security Service. The Policies of the Security Service Towards Artists' Communities]. Wrocław: Oddział Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej – Komisji Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu we Wrocławiu, 2008.
[11] KOTT, Jan. 1964. Shakespeare, Our Contemporary. Transl. by Bolesław Taborski. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964.
[12] KOTT, Jan. 1973. Projekt scenieczny Hamleta. In Archiwum Jana Kotta [Archive of Jan Kott]. Archiwum Emigracji, Biblioteka UMK in Toruń, 1973.
[13] KOTT, Jan. 1994. Still Alive. An Autobiographical Essay. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994.
[14] KUBIKOWSKI, Tomasz. 2006. Pustka i forma [Void and Form]. In Tomasz Płaza (ed.). Strategie publiczne, strategie prywatne. Teatr polski 1990–2005 [Public Strategies, Private Strategies. Polish Theatre 1990–2005]. Warszawa: Świat literacki, 2006: 7–22.
[15] KUJAWIŃSKA-COURTNEY, Krystyna. 2007. From Kott to Commerce: Shakespeare in Communist and Post-Communist Poland. In Krystyna Kujawińska-Courtney and R.S. White (eds.). Shakespeare's Local Habitations. Łódź: Łódź University Press, 2007: 13–27.
[16] MAKARYK, Irena and Joseph G. PRICE (eds.). 2013. Shakespeare in the World of Communism and Socialism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013.
[17] MÁRKUS, Zoltán, 2012. Kott in the West. In Hugh Grady (ed.). Empson, Wilson Knight, Barber, Kott: Great Shakespeareans, vol. XIII. New York: Continuum, 2012: 153–174.
[18] MCGANN, Jerome. 2014. A New Republic of Letters. Memory and Scholarship in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
[19] NICOLAESCU, Madalina. 2012. Kott in the East. In Hugh Grady (ed.). Empson, Wilson Knight, Barber, Kott: Great Shakespeareans, vol. XIII. New York: Continuum, 2012: 130–153.
[20] SAWICKA, Zofia. 2010. Jan Kott – droga do Szekspira [Jan Kott – Road to Shakespeare]. Culture.pl (13. 05. 2010). [accessed on 23.08.2020]. Available online at https://culture.pl/pl/artykul/jan-kott-droga-do-szekspira.
[21] SCHANDL, Veronika. 2009. Socialist Shakespeare Productions in Kádár-regime Hungary. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009.
[22] SHAKESPEARE, William. 2017 [2006]. Hamlet. Revised Edition. Ed. by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor. London and Oxford: Bloomsbury, 2017.
[23] ŚWIĄTKOWSKA, Wanda. 2019. Hamlet.pl. Myślenie Hamletem w powojennej kulturze polskiej [Hamlet.pl. Thinking Through Hamlet in the Polish Post-war Culture]. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2019.