Borrowed robes and garbled transmissions: echoes of Shakespeare's dwarfish thief
Article
Article Title | Borrowed robes and garbled transmissions: echoes of Shakespeare's dwarfish thief |
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ERA Journal ID | 35836 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Johnson, Laurie |
Journal Title | TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses |
Journal Citation | 20 (Special Issue 36), pp. 1-17 |
Number of Pages | 17 |
Year | 2016 |
Publisher | Australasian Association of Writing Programs |
Place of Publication | Australia |
ISSN | 1327-9556 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.52086/001c.27049 |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.textjournal.com.au/speciss/issue36/Johnson.pdf |
Abstract | When Shakespeare’s plays are creatively reinterpreted or rewritten, ‘Shakespeare’ invariably remains locked in as the fixed point of reference: rewritings of Shakespeare; reinterpretations of Shakespeare, and so on. Since 1753, Shakespeare source studies have been mapping the source materials on which his plays were based, which should have enabled us to loosen this fixed point of reference and to begin to picture the much longer history of reinterpretations in which the plays participate. Yet traditional approaches to Shakespeare source studies merely lock in a new point of reference, encompassing both source text and play. This paper aims to show that the new source studies unravels the notion of an ‘original’ by enabling us to unlock broader fields of exchange within which Shakespeare’s texts and our interpretations circulate together. Using the example of Macbeth and the language of borrowing and robbery within it, this essay illustrates the capacity for creative or writerly engagements with a Shakespeare an text to tap, perhaps even unconsciously at times, into a history of words and images that goes far beyond the 400 years that we are marking in this year of Shakespeare. |
Keywords | William Shakespeare; new source studies; Macbeth; Monty Python |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 470504. British and Irish literature |
360201. Creative writing (incl. scriptwriting) | |
Public Notes | File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Arts and Communication |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q3q06/borrowed-robes-and-garbled-transmissions-echoes-of-shakespeare-s-dwarfish-thief
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