Chapter 4. “A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality”
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Lucia Nigri
Abstract
Shakespeare’s plays proved crucial in Strehler’s career in many respects as they provided ‘narratives’ through which he could interpret the sequence of cultural, political, and social crises that he acknowledged, experienced personally, and more or less directly addressed in his own theatre. This chapter explores how, through specific Shakespearean plays, these crises – which were both individual and collective – raised in Strehler questions on the nature of history. It also explores Strehler’s interrogation of the role of man in a world dominated by monotonous and nonsensical power games from the perspective of a cyclic view of history. Strehler’s encounter with Shakespeare is examined through his own writings as well as reviews and other related material. This constitutes a second-level focus mapping onto the role of different types of narratives in our reconstruction of Strehler’s own dynamic understanding of Italy within the international context over a time-span of thirty years.
Abstract
Shakespeare’s plays proved crucial in Strehler’s career in many respects as they provided ‘narratives’ through which he could interpret the sequence of cultural, political, and social crises that he acknowledged, experienced personally, and more or less directly addressed in his own theatre. This chapter explores how, through specific Shakespearean plays, these crises – which were both individual and collective – raised in Strehler questions on the nature of history. It also explores Strehler’s interrogation of the role of man in a world dominated by monotonous and nonsensical power games from the perspective of a cyclic view of history. Strehler’s encounter with Shakespeare is examined through his own writings as well as reviews and other related material. This constitutes a second-level focus mapping onto the role of different types of narratives in our reconstruction of Strehler’s own dynamic understanding of Italy within the international context over a time-span of thirty years.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. Identity crises
- Chapter 1. 1916 25
- Chapter 2. Waiting for Caesar 51
- Chapter 3. Fascist crises 95
-
Part 2. Power games and the crisis of history
- Chapter 4. “A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality” 149
- Chapter 5. Allegorising and minoritising Richard III 175
-
Part 3. Crises of representation
- Chapter 6. Notes on Shakespeare, simulacra, and the aporias of ‘acting’ 215
- Chapter 7. Narrating and unravelling Italian crises through Shakespeare (2000–2016) 245
- Afterword 277
- Index of Names 283
- Index of Subjects 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. Identity crises
- Chapter 1. 1916 25
- Chapter 2. Waiting for Caesar 51
- Chapter 3. Fascist crises 95
-
Part 2. Power games and the crisis of history
- Chapter 4. “A great crisis of identification and understanding of reality” 149
- Chapter 5. Allegorising and minoritising Richard III 175
-
Part 3. Crises of representation
- Chapter 6. Notes on Shakespeare, simulacra, and the aporias of ‘acting’ 215
- Chapter 7. Narrating and unravelling Italian crises through Shakespeare (2000–2016) 245
- Afterword 277
- Index of Names 283
- Index of Subjects 291
