Otherness-Togetherness-Aesthetics: William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice

General data

Course ID:	3700-AL-OTA-OG
Erasmus code / ISCED:	(unknown) / (unknown)
Course title:	Otherness-Togetherness-Aesthetics: William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
Name in Polish:	Otherness-Togetherness-Aesthetics: William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice
Organizational unit:	Faculty of "Artes Liberales"
Course groups:	(in Polish) Przedmioty oferowane przez Kolegium Artes Liberales General university courses General university courses in the humanities
ECTS credit allocation (and other scores):	(not available) Basic information on ECTS credits allocation principles: the annual hourly workload of the student’s work required to achieve the expected learning outcomes for a given stage is 1500-1800h, corresponding to 60 ECTS; the student’s weekly hourly workload is 45 h; 1 ECTS point corresponds to 25-30 hours of student work needed to achieve the assumed learning outcomes; weekly student workload necessary to achieve the assumed learning outcomes allows to obtain 1.5 ECTS; work required to pass the course, which has been assigned 3 ECTS, constitutes 10% of the semester student load. view allocation of credits
Language:	English
Type of course:	general courses
Prerequisites (description):	(in Polish) English B2+ (Znajomość języka angielskiego na poziomie B2+)
Short description:	(in Polish) The course is part of the “Otherness-Togetherness-Aesthetics” project realised in cooperation with Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre and Universitet i Sørøst-Norge, Campus Notodden. It combines aesthetic learning processes with the timeless universe of Shakespeare’s plays, focusing on themes such as identity, beliefs, relationships, community and the complexity of social interactions.
Full description:	(in Polish) The course will be focused on the analysis of The Merchant of Venice viewed as a dramatic portrayal of relations, encounters and coexistence of individuals and groups who hail from different cultures and religions. The play encourages the readers to question stereotypes and seek ways of understanding the Other. It has been analysed both as a work of Christian apologetics (Coolidge, Lewalsky) and a vehement accusation of Christian hypocrisy (Greenblatt); an anti-Semitic play and a drama chastising anti-Semitic prejudices (Girard), which shows that the ultimate meaning of the play is still open to debate. Unlike his contemporary, Christopher Marlowe, who in the Jew of Malta cast the Jew in the role of a prototypical villain, Shakespeare presents the “stranger’s case” with an insight which may teach us how to treat strangers in our times. At the same time, though, the volatile term stranger proves a double-edged weapon. The Jewish protagonist of the play, who inhabits the position both of victim and of victimizer, perfectly replicates this doubleness. Reading Shakespeare’s play, we will look to define the phenomenon of otherness and togetherness in dialogue, the opportunities this dialogue provides, the conditions which determine it, and the obstacles which impede dialogue or render it impossible. An in-depth reading of William Shakespeare’s play which tackles the problem of alterity, and a survey of its culturally diverse contemporary film and theatre adaptations will help to illustrate the contribution of culture in the preservation and promotion of cross-cultural dialogue.
Bibliography:	Shakespeare, William, The Merchant of Venice, Arden Shakespeare, 2010. Coolidge, John S. „Law and Love in the Merchant of Venice”, Shakespeare Quarterly, 27 (3) (1976): 243-273. Girard, Rene. „To Entrap the Wisest: Sacrificial Ambivalence in The Merchant of Venice and Richard III”, in Shakespeare and the Theatre of Envy. New York 1991: 243-255. [polskie wydanie: Szekspir. Teatr zazdrości.] Greenblatt, Stephen. “Shylock i granice nienawiści”, w Poetyka kulturowa Stephena Greenblatta, Warszawa 2011: 9-32. Gilles, John. Shakespeare and the Geography of Difference, Cambridge 1994. Oldrive, Susan, “Marginalized Voices in The Merchant of Venice”, Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature, 1993. Riga, Frank P., “Rethinking Shylock’s Tragedy: Radford’s Critique of Anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice”, Mythlore, Vol. 28, No. 3/4, 2010. Magnus, Laury, Michael Radford’s The Merchant of Venice and the Vexed Question of Performance, Literature/Film Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 2, 2007. MacKay, Maxine, “The Merchant of Venice: a Reflection of the Early Conflict Between Courts of Law and Courts of Equity.” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 15, no. 4, 1964. Cohen, Stephen A., “‘The Quality of Mercy’: Law, Equity and Ideology in The Merchant of Venice” Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, Vol. 27, No. 4, 1994.
Learning outcomes:	(in Polish) Wiedza Absolwent: • Zna podstawową terminologię nauk humanistycznych i społecznych i rozumie ich rolę w kulturze • zna podstawowe metody analizy i interpretacji tekstów kultury • rozumie powiązania między działaniami kulturowymi a dynamiką zmian społecznych Umiejętności Absolwent: • rozpoznawać i interpretować podstawowe problemy i zjawiska współczesności • potrafi selekcjonować oraz dokonać krytycznej oceny informacji pochodzących z różnych źródeł naukowych, popularnonaukowych, publicystycznych i innych • posługuje się wybranym językiem obcym na poziomie B2+ Kompetencje społeczne Absolwent: • szanuje zasady tolerancji i wykazuje wrażliwość wobec różnic kulturowych • świadomie uczestniczy w życiu kulturalnym i społeczeństwie obywatelskim • jest gotów do podejmowania kształcenia przez całe życie
Assessment methods and assessment criteria:	(in Polish) Warunki zaliczenia: • obecność na zajęciach (dopuszczalna liczba nieobecności: 3) • praca pisemna (1000-1500 słów) • kolokwium • Autorzy najlepszych prac mogą starać się o udział w letnich warsztatach organizowanych przez Gdański Teatr Szekspirowski (5 miejsc). Warsztaty odbędą się w Gdańsku w sierpniu 2022 roku. Szczegóły podamy na pierwszych zajęciach

This course is not currently offered.

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