Shakespeare and National Identity

This dictionary identifies the terms in Shakespeare's works that connote the meaning of national identity, defined as producing a sense of belonging and connectedness in Elizabethan court society and disseminating the conception further afield. Surveying recent critical works on the concept of national identity in early modern England, Ivic (Univ. of Bath, UK) examines the complexities and contradictions of the interpretations and explains why some terms presented in the dictionary were not denotatively invented at the time; they are either associated with the "ideologically charged concept of national identity" or—conditioned by older ideas and meanings—infused with new ones. For instance, the historical plays King Richard II and King Richard III are filled with the words kingdom, country, nation, realm, state, and land. "We, band of brothers" in King Henry V refers to the sociocultural heterogeneity of the people of the British Isles. Alphabetically organized, the entries have three main sections—A, B, and C—offering definitions, quotations, and bibliographic references for further exploration. Bold cross-references, lists of abbreviations and headwords, black-and-white figures, a comprehensive bibliography, an index of Shakespeare's works where the headwords appear, and a general index enhance this study, suitable for advanced scholars. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *
University libraries catering for courses in English literature and in English history would doubtless find users for it. * Reference Reviews *