Shakespeare and the uses of the past: Critical approaches and current debates

摘要

This review article looks at the ways in which criticism in recent years (2005-9) has engaged with the topic of Shakespeare and the uses of the past. It examines the varying approaches that scholars have taken in analysing Shakespeare's own uses of the past: studies of the interrelations between the medieval and early modern periods; approaches focusing on the workings of memory and trauma; materialist approaches; approaches that seek to interrogate or a??queera?? notions about temporality; and a??presentista?? approaches, which seek to understand the past primarily in terms of its impact on the present day. It also considers the uses to which Shakespeare - as a figure from our past - has been put, and the ways in which current political and cultural pressures might be influencing scholarly trends. A series of interrelated questions underlie the account. What is at stake in the ways in which we approach Shakespeare's works? Why does it matter whether we examine the plays and poems primarily in terms of their a??originala?? moment of production or in terms of their meaning or afterlife in the twenty-first century? What is the influence of period divisions - between the a??medievala?? and a??early moderna?? in particular - within English literary studies? What influence might broader institutional, economic and political debates have on the development of scholarship?View full textDownload full textKeywords Henry V , King Lear , Pericles , presentism, queer theory, historicism, temporality, memory, past and present, medieval, periodisationRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17450918.2011.557503