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Specialization on Stage : The Formation and Deformation of Knowledge in Hedda Gabler and A Dream Play

Tranvik, Andreas LU (2025) In Modern Drama 68(2). p.180-204
Abstract
This article examines two of the most canonical plays in all of Scandinavian and European modern drama – Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1890) and August Strindberg’s A Dream Play (1902) – through the prism of the history of knowledge. The primary claim of the article is that these two plays are paradigmatic literary representations and critiques of one of the main historical processes pertaining to academic knowledge in modernity: specialization. While specialization is an oft-studied process, sociologically and historically, it remains relatively unexplored in literary scholarship and theatre studies. More specifically, representations of specialization have not received sufficient scholarly attention, in spite of the sustained relevance of... (More)
This article examines two of the most canonical plays in all of Scandinavian and European modern drama – Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1890) and August Strindberg’s A Dream Play (1902) – through the prism of the history of knowledge. The primary claim of the article is that these two plays are paradigmatic literary representations and critiques of one of the main historical processes pertaining to academic knowledge in modernity: specialization. While specialization is an oft-studied process, sociologically and historically, it remains relatively unexplored in literary scholarship and theatre studies. More specifically, representations of specialization have not received sufficient scholarly attention, in spite of the sustained relevance of the topic. In the article, I therefore outline, with the examples of Ibsen and Strindberg, how specialization can be understood not only as a facet of the history of knowledge proper but also in the context of literary history and the history of drama. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Modern Drama
volume
68
issue
2
pages
25 pages
publisher
University of Toronto Press
ISSN
0026-7694
DOI
10.3138/md-68-2-1354
project
Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
57c21125-3fde-4385-ab65-064bac1e9710
alternative location
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/50/article/966609
date added to LUP
2023-12-04 17:01:00
date last changed
2025-08-12 14:02:05
@article{57c21125-3fde-4385-ab65-064bac1e9710,
  abstract     = {{This article examines two of the most canonical plays in all of Scandinavian and European modern drama – Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (1890) and August Strindberg’s A Dream Play (1902) – through the prism of the history of knowledge. The primary claim of the article is that these two plays are paradigmatic literary representations and critiques of one of the main historical processes pertaining to academic knowledge in modernity: specialization. While specialization is an oft-studied process, sociologically and historically, it remains relatively unexplored in literary scholarship and theatre studies. More specifically, representations of specialization have not received sufficient scholarly attention, in spite of the sustained relevance of the topic. In the article, I therefore outline, with the examples of Ibsen and Strindberg, how specialization can be understood not only as a facet of the history of knowledge proper but also in the context of literary history and the history of drama.}},
  author       = {{Tranvik, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{0026-7694}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{180--204}},
  publisher    = {{University of Toronto Press}},
  series       = {{Modern Drama}},
  title        = {{Specialization on Stage : The Formation and Deformation of Knowledge in Hedda Gabler and A Dream Play}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/md-68-2-1354}},
  doi          = {{10.3138/md-68-2-1354}},
  volume       = {{68}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}