Pioneering Ibsen's dramas : agents, markets and reception 1852-1893

Abstract

This thesis investigates the dissemination of the plays of the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen to Denmark, Germany and Britain. The investigation covers the time from when Ibsen’s dramas were first attempted to be introduced to the time when they broke through in each of the three countries spanning the period 1852-1893. In this way, the thesis offers both a synchronic and diachronic view of the process. The thesis’ approach builds on theories of cultural transfer and investigates the agents that carried out the transfer, the cultural markets through which the plays were disseminated and finally how they were integrated into local culture. Through the three case studies, the thesis offers a transnational scope on the transfer of Ibsen’s drama as well as incorporating a plurality of perspectives to show how the transfer was contested and negotiated locally. The cultural markets, such as local and transnational book and theatrical markets, are investigated to show how structural conditions influenced the transfer, and contemporary notions of nation and national literature are explored to place the transfer in an ideational context. Thus, the investigation of the transfer of Ibsen’s plays offers a prism for the study of cultural markets, agency in the field of culture and the circulation of Scandinavian cultural products in the latter half of the nineteenth century.