Mgr. Pavel Knápek, Ph.D.Job-Shadowing, Presentation of Research and Further Research on Henrik Ibsen

Photo: Centre for Ibsen Studies / Faculty of Humanities / University of Oslo:Meeting Room and LibraryPhoto: Pavel Knápek

• As a university teacher, I attended courses taught within the study programme Ibsen studies for M.A. students and within the B.A. study programme ‘Nordic, especially Norwegian literature 1800-2000’. I learnt from this experience new teaching methods and new scientific approaches. In terms of new approaches, I learnt about presenting and discussing the performance of Ibsen's pieces —a completely new subject for me. Teaching methods in seminars were only partly new for me, nevertheless I appreciated the facts that Ibsen's oeuvre was discussed in detail and that students participated in discussions with enthusiasm. I also learnt a lot about alternative ways of evaluating students' performances. It was evident to me that the most important thing which students of Ibsen studies in Oslo were supposed to learn was to be able to analyse fictional texts and to explain their points of view.

Job Shadowing

• As you can see in the pictures from the courses, the students of the M.A. study programme “Ibsen studies” come from many different countries: Iran, Iraq, China, Ghana, Nigeria, the United States of America, Romania, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Denmark. As only about 10% of the students originally come from Norway, it is quite natural that the teaching language is English, not Norwegian. The multicultural nature of the class made discussions about Ibsen even more interesting.

Job Shadowing

• Course of the “Ibsen studies” programme:IBS4101 Ibsen’s oeuvre in a biographical, aesthetic and historical perspective

Job Shadowing

• Course of the “Ibsen studies” programme:IBS4105 Ibsen between cultures

Job Shadowing

• Course NOR1300, taught in NorwegianIBS4101 Nordisk særlig norsk litteratur 1800 – 2000 IBS4101 Nordic, Especially Norwegian Literature 1800 – 2000

Job Shadowing

Lecture & Workshop

Perception of characters in Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken

Pavel Knápek Photo: Pavel Knápek

Contents of the lecture Perception of characters in Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken

• In a lecture and a workshop I presented Ibsen’s last play, When We Dead Awaken, in the context of the works by the author himself as well as in consideration of the views expressed by some of Ibsen’s contemporaries: M.J. Monrad, C. Petersen, O. Brahm, H. Bahr and H. v. Hofmannsthal.

• My point with workshop was to have a closer look at the text of Ibsen’s last play, When We Dead Awaken. On one hand, I pinpointed the contradictions in words expressed by the main characters and showed the radical changes in their behaviour throughout the play. On the other hand, I tried to explain these apparent inconsistencies with a new hypothesis. In my point of view, there was a level of communication between the main characters, Rubek and Irene, hidden behind the spoken words. I presented their death at the end of the play as a decision to provide a proof of love which couldn’t be achieved by any other means than by their willingness to die.

Contents of the lecture Perception of characters in Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken

Contents of the lecture Perception of characters in Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken

Contents of the lecture Perception of characters in Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken

• The final purpose of my stay in Oslo was to progress in my research on Ibsen. This goal was fulfilled. I was able to meet with numerous researchers who were willing to discuss problems and issues concerning Ibsen with me and helped me in a significant way to move on in my research. Besides this, I used the possibility to borrow and study books from the University Library at Oslo University, where I found plenty of interesting books for my specific research on Ibsen. The teachers and researchers at the Centre for Ibsen Studies explained to me how to use internet databases they had created on Ibsen.

Research

Entrance to the University Library at Oslo UniversityPhoto: Pavel Knápek

Research

In 2010 I defended my PhD thesis on Henrik Ibsen and Hugo von Hofmannsthal, called ‘The Conception of Art and the Problems and Issues of the Artist in Works by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Henrik Ibsen’. In this work I presented some original interpretations of several of Ibsen’s works and put forward new hypotheses. At present I am working on a book which is focusing on some specific problems and issues that emerged during my work on the PhD thesis. My current research deals with some of the author’s motifs in detail, e.g. the symbol of the mine in Ibsen’s poem ‘The Miner’ and his play ‘John Gabriel Borkman’. In Oslo, I focused on Ibsen’s attitude to Romanticism and to several Idealistic philosophers such as Schelling, Hegel, and their Scandinavian mediators. The study of this relation should help me to understand author’s use of these motifs. In my book I will try to clarify Ibsen’s view on aesthetic and ethical values, which I consider to be crucial for better understanding of his works.