Ali John Madani (Stanford Humanities Center) presents: "‘Germany is not Hamlet’: Ideal Matter and the New Variorum Shakespeare"

The history of Hamlet criticism can be characterized by polarized perspectives attending either to the material dimensions of print and production or to philosophical considerations of modern subjectivity and aesthetics. In this talk, the nineteenth-century New Variorum Shakespeare edition of Hamlet—its origins in a workbook and afterlife on a digital platform—attempts to synthesize these divergent viewpoints. Animating the editor’s attempts at managing the material constraints of print and the vogue for a seemingly boundless German idealist criticism, this talk examines the archive of the “mighty variorum Hamlet” to chart a path between the poles.

[co-sponsored by English Department]