Frode Helland

Empire and culture in ibsen. Some notes on the dangers and ambiguities of interculturalism

“Can one be a non-Orientalist?”1  1 Immanuel Wallerstein (2006). European Universalism: The Rhetoric of Power. New York: New Press, Chapter 2. It is a fact, an astonishing, almost shocking fact, th...

Ibsen and Nietzsche: The Master Builder 1

Connections between Ibsen and Nietzsche have been left relatively unexplored. In what follows I shall seek to show that Nietzchean ideas are prominent in The Master Builder. The play contains several allusions to Nietzsche which stand out so conspicuously that the text can be said to demand an examination of the link. I shall not, however, try to answer biographical questions about how much of Nietzsche Ibsen had in fact read, or indeed understood. However that may be, the possibility of first-hand knowledge on Ibsen’s part can not be dismissed. What we do know for a fact is that Ibsen was a keen reader of Georg Brandes, so we can accordingly assume that Ibsen was well acquainted with Nietzsche at least as the latter had been presented by Brandes. Especially in view of how determined Ibsen always was to conceal his sources and whatever had influenced him, it is worth noting that in an interview in 1900 he said that Nietzsche was an “extraordinary talent,” adding that he did not “know so much” about the philosopher. What we shall be taking up for discussion here, then, is the intertextual relation to Nietzsche in The Master Builder. Those scholars who have considered Nietzsche have for the most part been concerned with relating Nietzscheanism to the play’s protagonist. Putting it briefly, the idea has been that the play’s Nietzschean is the master builder, and its most important element is the concept of the superman (Übermensch). In my view the philosopher’s influence is more deeply ingrained in the play. And if there is a “Nietzschean” character in the play, it is not Solness but Hilde Wangel. My point is not, however, that Ibsen propagates a kind of Nietzscheanism, but rather that he brings philosophical notions into play through the dramatic action, not only through a confrontation between Solness and Hilde, but also through the contrast between Hilde and Aline Solness. Many of the conflics of the play are thus informed by an intertextual, philosophical background – by no means restricted

‘Peddling’ Et dukkehjem: The Role of the State

This chapter investigates three ways in which Norway has contributed to shaping the play’s production history. The first pattern maps the touring trajectories of the early Nordic Noras, who created a major interpretative tradition. The second shows the regional and global flows of Nordic artists and productions from 1914 to 1990. Unbroken artistic networks of artists link these tours back to the premiere of the play in 1879: this degree of artistic interconnection is unprecedented in the study of a single play. The third group of patterns comes from maps showing the post-1990 global distribution of the play. These touring circuits are extensive and have been developed through a series of initiatives put in place by the Norwegian government.

Adaptation at a Distance

This chapter addresses the diversity of adaptations of Ibsen’s play. Using eleven productions for geographical, temporal, and interpretative range–Britain 1889, the USA 1938 and 1987, India 1958, Germany 1981, Nigeria 2006, Japan 2006, Pakistan 2006, Malawi 2006, China 2010, and Chile 2012–the chapter provides visualisations of dramaturgical structures that make us rethink theatrical adaptation. Four key areas emerge: the importance of temporal structures; the relationship between genres and spatial relocations; the importance of empathy in the manipulation of character; and the cultural constraints on narrative relocation. The network analysis shows the flexibility with which the play can be adapted to reflect radically different social structures, the most surprising of which is the loss of female agency.

Mapping the Early Noras

Maps showing this first wave of globalisation of the play are the distant visions that structure this chapter; the patterns on these maps challenge conventional narratives of Ibsen’s career by revealing an early commercial history of his most popular play. Twenty-two Noras were responsible for spreading the play around the world; this chapter follows their journeys to Asia, Australasia, and the Americas, and examines the critical reception of their performances. To understand why these actresses devoted so much of their creative energy to the international dissemination of this play, the lives of eight significant world Noras are considered: Alla Nazimova, Matsui Sumako, Gabriela Zapolska, Janet Achurch, Eleonora Duse, Eleanor Marx, Lin Ping, and Olga Chekhova. This chapter uncovers a major social force behind the first global success of the play. Although discernible in multiple and sometimes contradictory ways, this force is the European women’s rights movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Ibsen’s Challenge: The Tarantella Rehearsal

Investigating multiple versions of a single scene from Ibsen’s play, the tarantella rehearsal, this chapter examines patterns from 150 productions. The prototype tree design includes a trunk (the most recurring image) as the iconic image of Nora with the tambourine raised above her head performing an Italian folk dance. The four branches that depart from this interpretation are the branch of cuts and substitutions; the voyeuristic branch; the branch of transgressions where Nora breaks through respectable conventions of drawing-room entertainment to embody some form of social negation; and the branch of other dancing bodies where new corporeal representations challenge assumptions about heterosexual desire and the social organisation of gender. Our analysis uncovers some of the social, political, and representational forces at work within Et dukkehjem.