Staging Shakespeare: (Dis)solutions in Intermedial Processes Belo Horizonte Faculdade de Letras Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais 2019

Abstract

Multiple theoretical contributions in media studies may generate conflicts that impair the understanding of key concepts. In order to mitigate these conflicts, this dissertation proposes an analogical approach inspired by nature, in which processes related to chemical solutions illustrate media dynamics. Solvents represent the materiality of the medium; solutes are connected to the human cognition. The result is an Art Solution. The configurations of solute and solvent, i.e. the possible variations and referential levels of their elements, are the entropy of an Art solution. As an artistic alchemist, Shakespeare provides material to illustrate my analogy concerning the internal dynamics of media manifestations (entropic remediations), and the interactions among hypotextual and hypertextual elements (palimpsestic entropy). Anoverview of the Bards legacy, from sources to contemporary derivations, reveals recurrent elements that touch on human nature. The political content of Coriolanus and the gender conflict in Much Ado About Nothing support this point. By (re)mediating Shakespeare, the arts channel human essence, either in simple configurations or in complex mediaticmanifestations. A hybrid solvent, broadcast theater exemplifies the entropic peak in Shakespearean hypertexts. The introduction and analysis of its productions of Coriolanus and Much Ado About Nothing in comparison to other screen adaptations attest these entropic movements in solvent and solute. Ultimately, we learn that man-made phenomena are closely related to natural phenomena, sharing even future projections. Also, despite technological improvements, human societies are still moved by the same dynamics of power, supportingShakespeares topicality.