Entertaining Intertexts. Henrik Ibsen's Use of Popular Theatre. In Conversation with Ellen Rees

nordlitt – Skandinavistische Literaturforschung im Gespräch

Ellen Rees from the Center for Ibsen Studies at Oslo University introduces Henrik Ibsen as a theatre practitioner. She unfolds surprising resonances between French musical comedies by Eugène Scribe and Henrik Ibsen's most famous plays, A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler. We question romantic distinctions between high literature and popular theatre, and discuss Ellen's new theory on Ibsen's way to realism through the vaudeville. We are confronted with deadly links between money and love, and are reminded of the existence of academic bullying. But in the end, we are reminded of the joy of shouting out our crazy discoveries in the halls of venerable academic institutions.

(00:30:00) Introducing Ellen Rees

(00:02:12) How Did Ellen Rees End Up in Scandinavian Studies?

(00:06:00) The Centre for Ibsen Studies at Oslo University

(00:09:30) Who was Henrik Ibsen?

(00:12:24) Doing Research on Ibsen

(00:18:19) Ibsen as a Theatre Practitioner

(00:23:27) The Method and Process of Comparing

(00:28:20) Theatre History and the Vaudeville Genre

(00:38:42) Questioning the Idea of the Modern Breakthrough

(00:45:42) A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler in Comparison with Scribe

(00:53:45) Ibsen’s Contemporary Audience

(00:57:35) Ibsen and Comedy

(00:59:17) Hedda Gabler and Le budget d’une jeune ménage

(01:12:35) Parodic Strategies

(01:14:13) Student Question

(01:17: 27) The Crisis of Modernity

(01:22:06) The Position of Theatre Within the Global Literary System

(01:28:28) Announcement: Online Database

(01:29:59) What Advice Would You Give Your Student-Self?

Bibliography, further information, and comments are available on Experiment Geisteswissenschaften.

https://exgeist.hypotheses.org/

Idea and conception: Stefanie von Schnurbein

Cut: Cecilia Falkman