The Legacy of the Hamburg Dramaturgy

Abstract

This chapter describes the foundational influence of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Hamburg Dramaturgy on the inauguration of the “dramaturg” as a staff position that has only grown in importance to theater worldwide since the Hamburg Dramaturgy was published. First, the chapter lays out the characteristics of the Hamburg Dramaturgy that have been considered most salient by Enlightenment theater artists and critics and the aesthetic and political factors that contributed to the longevity of the Hamburg Dramaturgy’s influence. These are Lessing’s rehabilitation of Aristotle and Shakespeare, his vision of the theater as a platform for progressive social discourse, and his appreciation for the totality of the theatrical experience (not just for the text). The chapter goes on to track the sometimes complex and even contradictory manner in which dramaturgs, first in Germany and then to the rest of Europe, Russia, the United States, and eventually around the world, have come to grips with Lessing’s work to inform and enrich their own.