Original scientific paper
Two Croatian Reinscriptions of Hamlet
Ljiljana Ina Gjurgjan
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This paper focuses on two reinscriptions of Hamlet in the second half of the 20th century
- Brešan’s The Performance of ‘Hamlet’ (1965) and Paljetak’s After ‘Hamlet’ (1993). These
two reinscriptions differ from the previous reception of Hamlet in Croatian culture
since the stress is not so much on Hamlet’s fate and his psychological anxieties, but on
Hamlet as an arche-text. The paper argues that Hamlet as a revenge tragedy ending with
catharsis answers man’s universal need for order and justice. However, these two reinscriptions
of Hamlet subvert this ideological subtext in ways that perform how these
failures of Hamlet to fulfill this archetypal function point to ethical crises brought about
by the lack of collective moral values. Brešan’s re-writing of Hamlet, the performance
of which is staged in a backward Yugoslav village can be described as carnivalesque
(the tragedy is re-written as a burlesque). Yet, while the play ends with the character
with Hamlet’s destiny being silenced--his truth having no relevance because nobody
listens while the Kolo sings its celebration of carnal pleasures--it nonetheless expresses
a nostalgia for a time in which tragedy (therefore catharsis) was possible and Hamlet
could revenge his father. In this respect it is similar to Paljetak’s After Hamlet. Though
a different sort of a play, one that uses Hamlet in a postmodernist way in the sense
that it treats it as “already written” (Hutcheon), Paljetak’s play is also nostalgic for
a world in which justice is carried out. Written during the siege of Dubrovnik, this
play, without referring to this event, is a critique of postmodernity. Blocked by its
philosophical approach to the truth as something multi faceted, postmodern Europe
is perceived as being ineffectual in its political decisions and unable to act. The world
it portrays, (it is set one generation after Hamlet) is therefore unheroic, populated
with characters who lack any sense of purpose or moral responsibility.
Keywords
Shakespeare; Brešan; Paljetak; intertextuality; reinscription; avantgarde; postmodernism
Hrčak ID:
61574
URI
Publication date:
15.4.2010.
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