My paper will suggest that studies of contemporary appropriations and adaptations of Shakespeare’s works can benefit from an engagement with theories of the so-called “postmodern condition.” My position is that Shakespeare’s works have come to be seen as a critical counterpoint to postmodern destabilization. I want to suggest that, as postmodern subjects, we are especially attracted to Shakespeare’s works because we have come to believe that they represent a blueprint for humanity. The character of Hamlet, in particular, represents for us a source of inner subjectivity, a sense of a private, unified self, and therefore serves as a welcome corrective to the fractured and alienated postmodern subjectivity. My paper will examine two distinctly postmodern films, The Ninth Configuration and Hamlet 2, arguing that both films represent the figure of Hamlet as a cure for postmodern malaise and cynicism.
About the presenterMatthew Kendrick
Matthew Kendrick is an Assistant Professor of English at William Paterson University, with interests in Renaissance literature, Shakespeare and popular culture, and working-class culture.