Is Shakespeare a German?
Deciding which courses to choose is one of the most difficult questions
at the beginning of each semester. This term there is just one lecture on
German literature that perfectly suits my timetable. Its strange title: Der
“deutsche” Shakespeare-Komplex.
My
love of Shakespeare is quite modest but this title made me curious. Did
Shakespeare write some of his dramas and poems in German? I searched the
internet and did not find any mention of his writings in German or one of his
parents being German. With some confusion, I attended the first lecture.
An overly enthusiastic professor stood in front of the students and revealed
why he picked this provocative title. According to him, Shakespeare was a
German–not by birth but the way he wrote and the topics he picked were
similar to those of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
Many scientists place him in the Weimar classicism movement. I think this comparison
is strange. Shakespeare lived a long time before Goethe and Schiller.
Maybe these great German authors were influenced by his writings. Why doesn’t
anyone suggest that Goethe and Schiller are English?
Another
reason the professor gave to label Shakespeare as German is that more
of Shakespeare's plays are performed on German stages than in the United
Kingdom. Now the case getting even more absurd.
Obviously Shakespeare is highly admired by the Germans but I think
very few of them could name more than one of his plays. Finally,
feeling that his arguments so far have been specious, the young professor
played his trump card: English is a Germanic language and this is why
Shakespeare is in some way German. From this point of view you can add any
native English speaker to that list: Shakespeare, Dickens, Shaw and also
Hemingway, Steinbeck, or Poe.
On my way home after the lecture, I had an interesting thought: If
Shakespeare were alive today and his work is more popular in Germany than in
Britain–would he perhaps come here and ask for German citizenship after BREXIT?
It would be interesting to know how he would answer the following question in
the citizenship test: Can you name three famous German authors?
[foc,st - ^ When you’re a university student,] Deciding which courses to choose is one of the most difficult (questions) [W - ^ tasks] at the beginning of each semester. This term there is just one lecture on German literature that perfectly suits my timetable. Its strange title: (Der “deutsche” Shakespeare-Komplex.) [St,Gr - ^ “Der ‘deutsche’ Shakespeare-Komplex.”]
ReplyDeleteMy love of Shakespeare is quite modest[P - ^,] but this title made me curious. Did Shakespeare write (some) [Gr,W - ^ any] of his dramas (and) [Gr,W - ^ or] poems in German? I searched the internet (and) [Gr,W - ^ but] did not find any mention of his writings in German or [Gr,P,M - ^ of] one of his parents being German. With some confusion, I attended the first lecture. An overly enthusiastic professor stood in front of the students and revealed why he [T/Asp - ^ had] picked this provocative title. According to him, Shakespeare was a German–not by birth but [Gr,P,M - ^ by] the way he wrote and [foc,coh,M - ^ because] the topics he picked were similar to those of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. Many scientists place him in the Weimar classicism movement. I think this comparison is strange. Shakespeare lived a long time before Goethe and Schiller. Maybe these great German authors were influenced by his writings. Why doesn’t anyone suggest that Goethe and Schiller are English?
Another reason the professor gave (to label) [Gr,WF - ^ for labeling] Shakespeare as German is that more of Shakespeare's plays are performed on German stages than in the United Kingdom. Now the case [W+,T/Asp - ^ was] getting even more absurd. Obviously Shakespeare is highly admired by (the) [no det] Germans [P - ^ ,] but I think very few of them could name more than one of his plays. Finally, (feeling) [Gr,W - ^ sensing] that his arguments so far (have) [Gr,T/Asp - ^ had] been specious, the young professor played his trump card: English is a Germanic language [P - ^ ,] and this (is) [T/Asp - ^ was] why Shakespeare (is) [T/Asp - ^ was] in some way German. (From this point of view you can) [E,coh,M;T/Asp - ^ On that basis you could] add any native English speaker to (that) [det - ^ the] list: Shakespeare, Dickens, Shaw and also Hemingway, Steinbeck, or Poe.
On my way home after the lecture, I had an interesting thought: If Shakespeare were alive today and his work (is) [Gr - ^ were] more popular in Germany than in Britain–would he perhaps come here and ask for German citizenship after BREXIT? It would be interesting to know how he would answer the following question in the citizenship test: Can you name three famous German authors?
When you are a university student, deciding which courses to choose is one of the most difficult tasks at the beginning of each semester. This term there is just one lecture on German literature that perfectly suits my timetable. Its strange title: "Der 'deutsche' Shakespeare-Komplex."
ReplyDeleteMy love of Shakespeare is quite modest, but this title made me curious. Did Shakespeare write any of his dramas or poems in German? I searched the internet but did not find any mention of his writings in German or of one of his parents being German. With some confusion, I attended the first lecture. An overly enthusiastic professor stood in front of the students and revealed why he had picked this provocative title. According to him, Shakespeare was a German–not by birth but by the way he wrote and because the topics he picked were similar to those of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. Many scientists place him in the Weimar classicism movement. I think this comparison is strange. Shakespeare lived a long time before Goethe and Schiller. Maybe these great German authors were influenced by his writings. Why doesn’t anyone suggest that Goethe and Schiller are English?
Another reason the professor gave for labeling Shakespeare as German is that more of Shakespeare's plays are performed on German stages than in the United Kingdom. Now the case was getting even more absurd. Obviously Shakespeare is highly admired by Germans, but I think very few of them could name more than one of his plays. Finally, sensing that his arguments so far had been specious, the young professor played his trump card: English is a Germanic language, and this was why Shakespeare was in some way German. On that basis you could add any native English speaker to the list: Shakespeare, Dickens, Shaw and also Hemingway, Steinbeck, or Poe.
On my way home after the lecture, I had an interesting thought: If Shakespeare were alive today and his work were more popular in Germany than in Britain–would he perhaps come here and ask for German citizenship after BREXIT? It would be interesting to know how he would answer the following question in the citizenship test: Can you name three famous German authors?