title: Die rundköpfe und die spitzköpfe oder reich und reich gesellt sich gern Ein Greuelmärchen: an analysis of Bertolt Brecht’s creative reception of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure

authors: Douglas, Donald Brett

abstract: This study is an analysis of the creative reception of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure by Bertolt Brecht, whose parable Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe represents the fruit of this literary relationship. Before the investigation of the reception process itself could be undertaken, an interpretation of the model, Measure for Measure, was required. This evolved on the basis of critical commentaries furnished by Shakespearean scholars.

The thesis is divided into three major parts, each of which corresponds to a chronological stage of the reception process. The discussion of Measure for Measure and of Brecht’s initial creative response to the Shakespearean original, the fragmentary “Vienna” version, reconstructed by reference to extant plans and archive material, comprises the first part. Part Two commences with an examination of the first of seventeen complete versions deriving in varying degree from Measure for Measure (BBA 253) and concludes with an analysis of the play as contained in the Versuche series, finished shortly before Hitler’s rise to power but not published until 1959. In the final part of the thesis, BBA 257, the first manuscript produced in Danish exile, and the Endfassung, published in the twenty volume Gesammelte Werke by Suhrkamp, are submitted to critical exegesis.

Individual analyses, both of the Shakespearean model and of Brechtian manuscripts and published texts, involve all aspects of the drama, not only plot, language and dramatis personae, but also form, theme and structure. The attempt was made to complement this approach by the inclusion of other pertinent or interesting material, such as workplans, notes and the contributions proffered by individuals like Ludwig Berger and Hans Hermann Borchardt. The adopted methodology favoured an investigation of the development by Brecht of key Shakespearean motifs.

The three stages of the reception process are distinguishable not only chronologically, but also by virtue of the particular orientation inherent in them. The first phase is overwhelmingly polemical in nature: Brecht, disillusioned by the Elizabethan drama because of its anachronistic political tendencies, attacks the moral world Shakespeare portrays in Measure for Measure. He achieves this mainly by supplying certain actions with a materialist motivation and by allowing figures to mock moral considerations. The Vienna-version is a parody, therefore, and also contains satirical elements. But the polemical aspect outweighs the satirical, and it appears likely that Brecht ceased to work on a Shakespeare parody because this imbalance could not be justified in a time of increasing social unrest. In the second stage of development Brecht renounces his parodic intentions and creates a wholly new play concerned with contemporary German political developments. The protagonist, the racist Angelas, is clearly the dramatic embodiment of Adolf Hitler, and the changes in his character during this stage do not derive from Measure for Measure, but from Brecht’s political analysis. Throughout this period of work Brecht endeavours to grasp the phenomenon of Fascism in its racist form. In the early manuscripts the Fascist Angelas is portrayed as a tool wielded by the ruling class to introduce monetary reforms. Later he is depicted as an agent of finance capital ideologically suited to wage their struggle against the Communist threat. In the final stage of development Brecht continues to make politically motivated adjustments to his text, but the playwright’s central concern is now with the theatrical reception of his work. He rearranges, deletes from, and adds to, his play with the intention of rendering its message more easily accessible to the spectator of Brechtian theatre. 
One of his main methods is the inclusion of alienation effects such as songs and a prologue.

This analysis of creative reception demonstrates, finally, the inappropriateness of criticism of Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe and its apparently inadequate reflection of German political reality by reference to Brecht’s presumed inability to free himself of Shakespearean influence. A consideration of Brecht’s radically new, unique treatment of several Shakespearean motifs reveals that he was a poetic genius by no means inferior to his Elizabethan forbear. Those, conversely, who find fault with Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe on purely political grounds ignore the fact that Brecht’s primary intention was not to reflect the contemporary German political scene, but to create a Marxist parable.

The Vienna-version, edited in accordance with the textual format of the 1967 Gesammelte Werke by Suhrkamp, has been appended to the thesis.

text: Die rundköpfe und die spitzköpfe oder reich und reich gesellt sich gern Ein Greuelmärchen: an analysis of Bertolt Brecht’s creative reception of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure This study is an analysis of the creative reception of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure by Bertolt Brecht, whose parable Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe represents the fruit of this literary relationship. Before the investigation of the reception process itself could be undertaken, an interpretation of the model, Measure for Measure, was required. This evolved on the basis of critical commentaries furnished by Shakespearean scholars.

The thesis is divided into three major parts, each of which corresponds to a chronological stage of the reception process. The discussion of Measure for Measure and of Brecht’s initial creative response to the Shakespearean original, the fragmentary “Vienna” version, reconstructed by reference to extant plans and archive material, comprises the first part. Part Two commences with an examination of the first of seventeen complete versions deriving in varying degree from Measure for Measure (BBA 253) and concludes with an analysis of the play as contained in the Versuche series, finished shortly before Hitler’s rise to power but not published until 1959. In the final part of the thesis, BBA 257, the first manuscript produced in Danish exile, and the Endfassung, published in the twenty volume Gesammelte Werke by Suhrkamp, are submitted to critical exegesis.

Individual analyses, both of the Shakespearean model and of Brechtian manuscripts and published texts, involve all aspects of the drama, not only plot, language and dramatis personae, but also form, theme and structure. The attempt was made to complement this approach by the inclusion of other pertinent or interesting material, such as workplans, notes and the contributions proffered by individuals like Ludwig Berger and Hans Hermann Borchardt. The adopted methodology favoured an investigation of the development by Brecht of key Shakespearean motifs.

The three stages of the reception process are distinguishable not only chronologically, but also by virtue of the particular orientation inherent in them. The first phase is overwhelmingly polemical in nature: Brecht, disillusioned by the Elizabethan drama because of its anachronistic political tendencies, attacks the moral world Shakespeare portrays in Measure for Measure. He achieves this mainly by supplying certain actions with a materialist motivation and by allowing figures to mock moral considerations. The Vienna-version is a parody, therefore, and also contains satirical elements. But the polemical aspect outweighs the satirical, and it appears likely that Brecht ceased to work on a Shakespeare parody because this imbalance could not be justified in a time of increasing social unrest. In the second stage of development Brecht renounces his parodic intentions and creates a wholly new play concerned with contemporary German political developments. The protagonist, the racist Angelas, is clearly the dramatic embodiment of Adolf Hitler, and the changes in his character during this stage do not derive from Measure for Measure, but from Brecht’s political analysis. Throughout this period of work Brecht endeavours to grasp the phenomenon of Fascism in its racist form. In the early manuscripts the Fascist Angelas is portrayed as a tool wielded by the ruling class to introduce monetary reforms. Later he is depicted as an agent of finance capital ideologically suited to wage their struggle against the Communist threat. In the final stage of development Brecht continues to make politically motivated adjustments to his text, but the playwright’s central concern is now with the theatrical reception of his work. He rearranges, deletes from, and adds to, his play with the intention of rendering its message more easily accessible to the spectator of Brechtian theatre. 
One of his main methods is the inclusion of alienation effects such as songs and a prologue.

This analysis of creative reception demonstrates, finally, the inappropriateness of criticism of Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe and its apparently inadequate reflection of German political reality by reference to Brecht’s presumed inability to free himself of Shakespearean influence. A consideration of Brecht’s radically new, unique treatment of several Shakespearean motifs reveals that he was a poetic genius by no means inferior to his Elizabethan forbear. Those, conversely, who find fault with Die Rundköpfe und die Spitzköpfe on purely political grounds ignore the fact that Brecht’s primary intention was not to reflect the contemporary German political scene, but to create a Marxist parable.

The Vienna-version, edited in accordance with the textual format of the 1967 Gesammelte Werke by Suhrkamp, has been appended to the thesis.

year: 1982

title: The Moral Requirement for Digital Connectivity

authors: Munn, Nicholas

subjects: COVID-19

abstract: Crises illustrate the value of digital connectedness. When our physical routines are disrupted, having alternative options to connect with others is important. Yet there are clear divisions in access to the internet, and in the distribution of the skills required to take advantage of the internet. I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is but one example of a more general idea; that everyone has a moral claim to internet access. We ought to use this opportunity to address the continued inequities in internet access and use amongst our population.

text: The Moral Requirement for Digital Connectivity Crises illustrate the value of digital connectedness. When our physical routines are disrupted, having alternative options to connect with others is important. Yet there are clear divisions in access to the internet, and in the distribution of the skills required to take advantage of the internet. I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is but one example of a more general idea; that everyone has a moral claim to internet access. We ought to use this opportunity to address the continued inequities in internet access and use amongst our population.

year: 2021-09-03

title: Kaupapa Māori Science

authors: Stewart, Georgina Marjorie

subjects: Kaupapa Maori

abstract: This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

text: Kaupapa Māori Science This thesis investigates how Māori knowledge and language articulate with current discourses of Pūtaiao education, and possible alternative articulations. A Kaupapa Māori version of critical discourse analysis methodology is developed and applied to discourses relevant to Pūtaiao, or Māori-medium science education. This topic represents an intersection between language, science, education, and culture - fields which are all highly politically charged. Therefore, it is essential that a politically robust Kaupapa Māori position be taken in relation to the research topic. Not only the issues being investigated but the underlying research paradigm must be interrogated using Kaupapa Māori theory at each stage of the project.

The goal is to study the range of possible meanings for the notions of 'Pūtaiao' and 'Māori science' by exploring the relevant dialectical issues, critiquing the assumptions and positions taken on language, knowledge, identity and ethos, in order to inform further Pūtaiao curriculum development. The research project is a narration of the larger story of Pūtaiao education: what is the current situation, how did it come about, what theoretical issues have been influential in this process, and what possibilities are there for further development of Pūtaiao curriculum and pedagogy? 

The thesis research consists of a series of discourse analyses of varying levels of focus and intersection with Pūtaiao:
Wāhanga 1: Translated NCEA L1 science and mathematics examinations, and a traditional Taitokerau oral text;
Wāhanga 2: Māori science curriculum policy;
Wāhanga 3: Multicultural science education research;
Wāhanga 4: Curriculum politics, preventive linguistics, language of science;
Wāhanga 5: Mātauranga, rationality, philosophy of science.

Each analysis takes the form of a narrative history, based on a selected corpus of previously published scholarship (in Wāhanga 1, including numerical data and oral tradition) on the issue under examination, from a Kaupapa Māori perspective. Mainly in the first two chapters, analysis at times also draws on 'personal narrative' accounts of previously unpublished details relating to Pūtaiao.
 
Additionally, an investigation of various qualified notions of 'science' is undertaken, beginning in Wāhanga 2, concluding in Wāhanga 5, in order to explore the nature and boundaries of science as a system of knowledge, and its relationship to other types or systems of knowledge. 

Synopses are included of the following concepts and theoretical issues impacting on the discourses under analysis: 
Wāhanga 1: Ethnicity, 'race', critical theory, Kaupapa Māori theory. 
Wāhanga 2: Science, scientism, science ideology and anti-science.
Wāhanga 4: Identity, linguistic purism, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Informed by this research, in Wāhanga 5 an original model for the relationship between mātauranga and science is proposed, and the notion of Kaupapa Māori science/epistemology is explored. An analogy between the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and multicultural science is used to draw together the cultural debates in language and knowledge, which are surmised to intersect at the level of discourse. 

The final chapter presents a re-articulation of Pūtaiao as the notion of Kaupapa Māori science education, and some recommendations for language and content knowledge in further development of Pūtaiao curriculum policy.

year: 2007