Shakespeare in Canada

'Shakespeare in Canada opens up a subject that is of critical importance to literary and theatre studies in Canada, mapping out its parts and providing extremely well researched approaches to its many facets. The detailed examples and case studies offered here should provide a vast resource for teachers of Shakespeare, who can use them as starting points for their classes to discuss new questions of why Shakespeare in Canada. The editors and authors make a persuasive case for how the reception and adaptation of figures like Shakespeare have importance for Canadianists and scholars/teachers primarily focused on contemporary writing, and especially for how Shakespearean adaptation is a significant expression of contemporary Canadian identity. This book has the potential to speak to many different audiences and to transform the conversation among them.' -- Lynne Magnusson, Department of English, Queen's University

The first work to engage Shakespeare with distinctly Canadian debates addressing nationalism, separatism, cultural appropriation, cultural nationalism, feminism, and postcolonialism.

Is there a distinctly Canadian Shakespeare? What is the status and function of Shakespeare in various locations within the nation: at Stratford, on CBC radio, in regional and university theatres, in Canadian drama and popular culture? Shakespeare in Canada brings insights from a little explored but extensive archive to contemporary debates about the cultural uses of Shakespeare and what it means to be Canadian.

Canada's long history of Shakespeare productions and reception, including adaptations, literary reworkings, and parodies, is analysed and contextualized within the four sections of the book. A timely addition to the growing field that studies the transnational reach of Shakespeare across cultures, this collection examines the political and cultural agendas invoked not only by Shakespeare's plays, but also by his very name. In part a historical and regional survey of Shakespeare in performance, adaptation, and criticism, this is the first work to engage Shakespeare with distinctly Canadian debates addressing nationalism, separatism, cultural appropriation, cultural nationalism, feminism, and postcolonialism.