Felix Sprang: The Emergence of Shakespeare in the Spirit of the Art of Memory

Kingston Shakespeare Podcasts

Sprang argues for a progressiveness in Yates in regards to Shakespeare (that is not merely limited to the occult) in her understanding in the use of images, especially pertaining to memory. He re-evaluates Yates’ observation that the advent of Ramist thinking has had an effect on the way Shakespeare. He links this view to cognitive approaches to Shakespeare and images. Felix Sprang has worked mainly on the intersection of literature and the ‘arts and sciences’ in early modern England as well as on the connection between literature and science across all literary periods. He is also interested in the aesthetics of literary texts and the methods derived from the project “Kulturwissenschaft”, in particular the strand devised by Aby Warburg and Ernst Cassirer. Felix Sprang has studied English, Biology, Philosophy and Paedagogics at the Goethe University Frankfurt and the University of Hamburg, and has received his PhD from the University of Hamburg with a dissertation that probes into literary reflections of scientific thought in early modern London. That book was largely conceived as Aby Warburg Scholar at the Warburg Institute, University of London. Having taught at the HU Berlin and the LMU Munich, he is now teaching English Literature at the University of Siegen. The conference Frances Yates: The Art of Memory was held on April 30, 2016 at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. The session was chaired by Edward Chaney. Recorded by Anna Rajala and Timo Uotinen. More at: kingstonshakespeareseminar.wordpress.com/