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“I thought Frailty’s Name was Carl”: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Shakespeare, and Postmodern Canonization

“I thought Frailty’s Name was Carl”: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Shakespeare, and... <p>William Shakespeare’s <i>Hamlet</i> has become one of the most cited, appropriated, and referenced texts in the Western canon. This article examines an overlooked appropriation, the cult classic TV show <i>Mystery Science Theater 3000’s</i> episode entitled “Hamlet” Popularly known as <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i>, the show engaged in a very postmodern, metadiscourse by depicting characters watching bad movies and making sarcastic comments about them for the viewer at home. But in taking on this gloomy, black-and-white German-language production of <i>Hamlet</i>, this <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i> episode poses important questions about what constitutes a canonical work and how exactly a work becomes part of a literary canon. Through an analysis of this episode of <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i> through the perspectives of aesthetic and postmodern theory, this article suggests that this appropriation of <i>Hamlet</i> ushers in a new type of canon initiation, and, in the case of <i>MST<sub>3</sub>KS</i> take on the play, presents what I would like to call a “postmodern canon”</p> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Interdisciplinary Literary Studies Penn State University Press

“I thought Frailty’s Name was Carl”: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Shakespeare, and Postmodern Canonization

Mills, Dan
Interdisciplinary Literary Studies , Volume 17 (2) – Sep 1, 2015
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Publisher
Penn State University Press
Copyright
Copyright © The Pennsylvania State University.
ISSN
2161-427X

Abstract

<p>William Shakespeare’s <i>Hamlet</i> has become one of the most cited, appropriated, and referenced texts in the Western canon. This article examines an overlooked appropriation, the cult classic TV show <i>Mystery Science Theater 3000’s</i> episode entitled “Hamlet” Popularly known as <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i>, the show engaged in a very postmodern, metadiscourse by depicting characters watching bad movies and making sarcastic comments about them for the viewer at home. But in taking on this gloomy, black-and-white German-language production of <i>Hamlet</i>, this <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i> episode poses important questions about what constitutes a canonical work and how exactly a work becomes part of a literary canon. Through an analysis of this episode of <i>MST<sub>3</sub>K</i> through the perspectives of aesthetic and postmodern theory, this article suggests that this appropriation of <i>Hamlet</i> ushers in a new type of canon initiation, and, in the case of <i>MST<sub>3</sub>KS</i> take on the play, presents what I would like to call a “postmodern canon”</p>

Journal

Interdisciplinary Literary Studies – Penn State University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2015

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