Shakespeare and Politics

The topic of this year’s conference, “Shakespeare and Politics” could not be more topical in the elction year 2021. Conceptions of the political in Shakespeare and the related questions of legitimations of power, governance and justice, of freedom and tyranny have, as Stephen Greenblatt has recently demonstrated in Tyrant, geopolitical relevance even today.  

Our conference examines “Shakespeare and Politics” within a wide framework. It considers the reflection of political action in Shakespeare’s works and examines the discursive formations of governance, hegemony and authority as they are discussed in the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and in theoretical conceptions of early modernity and the presence.

It is a special honour to welcome Sir Stanley Wells and Paul Edmondson from Stratford-upon-Avon who will open our conference with „All the Sonnets of Shakespeare“. On Saturday, Franziska Quabeck will begin with a enlightening approach on our topic with her paper on „Königinnen im Krieg“. Andreas Höfele will explore its political dimensions with„Fortinbras“ and Joachim Küppers examination of scepticism in Shakespeare, Cervantes and Calderón will expand on it with a comparatistic approach. Katrin Trüstedts following paper on the politics of appearance, ‚Politik des Erscheinens‘ promises profound theoretical discussions. A highlight of the conference will be Ewan Fernie’s lecture on the „Shakespearean City“ on Sunday.

The forum “Shakespeare und Schule” will be dedicated to the central ambivalence of politics between persuasion and manipulation, and in the Shakespeare Seminar, young international scholars will take a look at the dual perspective: “Shakespeare’s Politics, Politicising Shakespeare”.

Anna Engelke, spokesperson for the German President, Paul Smith, Director of the British Council, historian and journalist Paul Nolte and Hasko Weber, General Director of the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, are invited to take part in the panel discussion on the subject of politics and theatre.

The theatre programme accompanying the conference includes Wilhelm Tell on Friday and Die Rückkehr des Odysseus on Saturday at the German National Theatre. We are also looking forward to the publication of two further volumes of the Studienausgabe: King Lear and Henry VIII, which will be presented by Werner Brönnimann and Wolfgang Müller at the beginning of the conference.

This autumn, the Board elections, which were scheduled for spring 2020, will be conducted. As our meeting will be broadcast digitally for registered members who are unable to travel to Weimar, they will also have the opportunity to register with their email address and vote using voting software set up specifically for this purpose.

Download the programme here.