Shakespeare worldwide

Abstract

'It is normally supposed that something always gets lost in translation. I cling obstinately to the notion that something can be gained' (Salman Rushdie, Imaginary Homelands ) S hakespeare is so deeply ingrained in English-speaking culture, and the appreciation of his work so thoroughly intertwined with the study of the English language, that it seems almost incidental that he is also the world's best-known playwright. Regularly at or near the top of lists of the most performed and most studied dramatists in diverse countries and languages, Shakespeare has been disseminated broadly and incorporated into the lives of people far removed from his homeland and his native tongue. The globalized nature of contemporary culture has expanded the reception of Shakespeare further through material means: widespread sales of the texts for schools by British publishers, world tours by the Royal Shakespeare Company (the first ones occurring in the early 1960s, soon after its founding), and international distribution of films of the plays. Is this a logical result of Shakespeare's overriding genius, another example of English cultural imperialism, or just clever marketing in the post-modern manner?

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