Doctoral Defense: Henrik Ibsen in the American Theatre, 1879–1914

Svein Henrik Nyhus’ dissertation examines Ibsen’s assimilation in the American theatre from 1879 to 1914. With a methodology that is both quantitative, historically interpretive and theoretically informed by sociology of literature, it seeks to account for the conjunctures and general characteristics of this process. Inspired by Franco Moretti’s “distant reading,” the event-based, relational performance database IbsenStage is used to generate visualizations – maps, graphs and social networks. Patterns in the visualizations are used to form questions which are then interpreted with an eye to social, cultural and aesthetic forces that are considered as factors giving rise to the patterns. The main findings highlight that Ibsen’s progress in American theater was a characteristically slow process (1879–1902) when compared to defining countries in Europe. This early period is characterized by a lack of persistent dedications amongst stage artists, and alongside the particular business structure of the theatrical field and negative criticism in New York, the chances of popularity were low. Ibsen’s initial success in Germany is of particular relevance in this regard as the dramatist’s American introduction is characterized by a considerable number of stagings in German-American theatres, which is investigated in detail. The dissertation, moreover, discusses the particulars of what is defined as a breakthrough (1903–1904) in light of new historical findings, where the focus is on the autonomous striving of select artists spurring the