IBS4101 – Ibsen's Works: History, Text, Reception

Course content

This course is designed to provide an introduction to Ibsen’s dramatic production, emphasizing its historical context. The plays will be analyzed as part of and influenced by social, political and cultural forces, and as part of changing aesthetic and artistic norms.

Selected works will be examined against the background of changing literary, theatrical and cultural paradigms in Ibsen’s own time. Special attention will be paid to Ibsen’s renewal of the dramatic tradition. We will investigate his plays as dramatic texts as well as through historical performances and selected episodes of their receptions from Ibsen’s time.

Learning outcome

Upon completing the course the students should be able to

  • Discuss the developments within Ibsen’s dramatic canon
  • Analyze Ibsen’s works in relation to its historical context
  • Apply basic theatre historiographical methods related to literature, theatre, and reception in examining Ibsen’s works