The presence of Shakespearean tragedy in Hegel's aesthetics

• Grant number: 24/16209-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 05, 2025
• End date: April 04, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Marco Aurélio Werle
• Grantee: Larissa de Moraes Gois
• Supervisor: Francesca Raimondi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/16518-0 - Hegel and Shakespeare: the tragedy of character, BP.IC

Abstract

In this research internship, my focus will be to obtain knowledge that will allow enhancement of the study, already being conducted with the FAPESP scholarship in Brazil, of Hegel's interpretation concerning Shakespeare's tragic plays. The importance of Shakespeare's presence in Hegel's aesthetics lies in it being the prime example representing the artistic and spiritual tendencies of modernity, a period in which the Spirit, by withdrawing into itself and imposing interiority in a decisive way, leads art to complete its course as a spiritual artifice. The importance of this research is not only to bring an aesthetic understanding of both Hegel and Shakespeare but also to provide insight into the cultural journey humanity has undergone up to modernity, an analysis that allows us not only a historical study, but, equally, a more in-depth study of current trends in art and culture. Furthermore, considering that the research aims to study Shakespeare's presence in Hegelian aesthetics, and this presence was strongly influenced by the German culture of Hegel's time, the significance of this work also lies in studying the political, artistic and philosophical history of Germany. After all, Shakespeare was central to German culture of the period, being considered the liberating genius of an art that would unify the country into a nation. With this internship at Freie Universität Berlin, I look for complementary knowledge that would not be available only through universities in São Paulo. Contrary to what is seen in Germany, Hegelian aesthetics (especially regarding the interpretation of Shakespeare) and the reception of Shakespearean dramas by German philosophers of the period are still topics that lack materials and research in our country.