Migrating Shakespeare: First European Encounters, Routes and Networks - Paperback

by Janet Clare (Editor), Dominique Goy-Blanquet (Editor), Bi-Qi Beatrice Lei (Editor)

Migrating Shakespeare offers the first study of the earliest waves of Shakespeare's migration into Europe. Charting the spread of the reception and production of his plays across the continent, it examines how Shakespeare contributed to national cultures and - in some cases - nation building. The chapters explore the routes and cultural networks through which Shakespeare entered European consciousness, from first translations to stage adaptations and critical response. The role of strolling players and actors, translators and printers, poets and dramatists, is chronicled alongside the larger political and cultural movements shaping nations. Each individual case discloses the national, literary and theatrical issues Shakespeare encountered, revealing not only how cultures have accommodated and adapted Shakespeare on their own terms but their interpretative contribution to the texts. Taken collectively the volume addresses key questions about Shakespeare's naturalization or reluctant accommodation within other cultures, inaugurating his present global reach.

Author Biography

Janet Clare is Emeritus Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of Hull, UK, and is currently Research Professor in English at the University of Bristol, UK, and Research Fellow at the Institute of English Studies, University of London, UK.