Deconstructing Critical Classification of Dramatic Genres in Shakespeare

초록

The traditional critics have attempted to codify ontologically objective, unchanging, formal literary conventions that remain fixed throughout history. On the other hand, other critics, like Marxist, Freudian, and historical critics, treat the literary text as part of a larger system of cultural change and development. Modern critics have noticed that literary text breaks generic rules; it cannot be reduced to a formula and does not fit precisely any specific generic category. The text is not a fixed one, but a field productive of meaning and ‘creative genres.’ Therefore, most modern critics have tried to disengage text from old notions of disciplinary and generic boundaries. As a consequence, their criticism finds interactions and intertextuality in and out of “literary” text and undergoes an unceasing process of deconstructing critical classification of dramatic genres as well as Shakespeare. This paper is designed to discuss how successful modern critical classification of dramatic genres in Shakespeare has been in improving upon Polonius’ cross-generic classification of plays in Hamlet (2.2) -- “tragical-comical-historical-pastoral; scene individable, or poem unlimited.”

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