The comparative reading of the two plays will focus on their mimetic aspects and wide economic and political implications. These will be discussed in the framework of two general economic paradigms “restricted/restrictive economy” and “general economy” defined by the versatile French thinker Georges Bataille in his Accursed Share (La part maudite, 1949, vol. 1: Consumption) and reflected on in Jacques Derrida’s essay “From Restricted to General Economy: A Hegelianism without Reserve” (1969). The major issues include:
- the status of mimesis in Hamlet and Bartholomew Fair (Hamlet’s speech to the actors and the Mousetrap compared to the Induction and the puppet play in 5.3-5.5)
- carnival, spectacle and law: grotesque body, court masque and “festive marketplace”
- the figure of the ghost in Hamlet and Bartholomew Fair: spectre vs. puppet, authority vs. irony
- from economy to ecology: restricted and general economy in Bartholomew Fair and Hamlet
The integrating theme of our discussions will be the transformations of basic social, anthropological and economic concepts (and values), such as sovereignty, freedom, labour and life in the early modern Europe and their relation to their present (late capitalist) understanding.
- Učitel: Martin Procházka
- Učitel: Martin Světlík
- Učitel: Helena Znojemská