In contemporary parlance the notions of ‘money’ and ‘cultural globalization’ are often connected with the idea of global economy. As a consequence, they prompt awareness not only of the growing importance of collapsed trade barriers in the present juncture, but also of the close and complex relationship between economic and political power and culture in a historical perspective.
Shakespeare’s characters and stories certainly played an important role in his own time in a historical and cultural context where a new system of mercantile economy was developing out of geographical discoveries, and Common Law was trying to keep pace with current debates and regulations aimed at facilitating commerce (see e.g. The Comedy of Errors, The Merchant of Venice, Coriolanus, Othello…). It should therefore come as no surprise that economic themes and motifs rank high among the pressing cultural concerns to which Shakespeare gave shape in his works. This rapid, dramatic rise to prominence of economic questions is typically reflected in the pervasive monetary subtext of Shakespeare’s language and the sometimes baffling ubiquitousness of economic metaphors in his plays and poems.
As is also well known, moreover, Shakespeare has continued to play a crucial role on account of his status as a cultural myth straddling more than four centuries, at the crossroads of and as a point of encounter between national theatre cultures that gradually overcame their isolation and/or separateness by participating in Shakespeare-fuelled flows.
Today, globalization has further contributed to move to the foreground the intercultural dimension to the reproduction and consumption of Shakespeare, a process that is clearly registered in the growing relevance taken on by the ‘new’economic criticism in the study of his uniquely cosmopolitan afterlife.
The organisers welcome proposals for 20-minute papers responding to all aspects and declensions of the connection – both material and conceptual – between ‘Shakespeare’ and ‘money’. Suggested topics include:
THEN…
Shakespeare and early modern economy: the profit motif, the critique of usury, the satire of money-lenders, traders and middlemen; coinage and counterfeiting.
The monetary texture of Shakespeare’s language: the rhetoric of debt and credit, profit and loss, accounting and book-keeping; Shakespeare and the formation of ‘econolingua’ (Fischer).
Money and power, ethics and aesthetics in Shakespeare’s time.
Shakespeare’s theatre and the new market economy: the commercialization of early modern theatre, the birth of the entertainment industry, the stage as marketplace; the book trade.
NOW…
Shakespeare and postmodern economy: late capitalism and global economy; ‘casino capitalism’ and the commodification of money; the 2008 financial crisis; virtual economies.
Shakespeare in the age of the ‘general economy’: contemporary reflections on the politics, ethics and aesthetics of money.
The circulation of “Shakespeare” as a global commodity: Shakespeare as cultural capital; adaptation as cross-cultural trafficking; Shakespeare’s afterlife and the problem of value.
Taking stock: the role and place of economic criticism in Shakespeare Studies.
Scientific committee: Carla Dente, John Drakakis, Keir Elam
Conference organisers: Carla Dente, Sara Soncini
Submissions should be sent by email to carla.dente@unipi.it
Please include the following information with your proposal:
- full title of your paper;
- a 250-300-word abstract;
- name, postal address and e-mail address;
- institutional affiliation and position;
- a short bionote.
Proceedings will be published by PUP/Pisa University Press in the ‘Journeys through Changing Landscapes: Transnational Cultural Dislocations’ series.
Deadline for proposals: 10 July 2016
Notification of acceptance: 30 July 2016
Deadline for registration: 1 September 2016
Delegates will be responsible for their own travel arrangements and accommodation.
For further queries please contact: sara.soncini@unipi.it