The Arden Research Handbook of Contemporary Shakespeare Criticism

by Evelyn Gajowski (Editor)

Overview

The Arden Research Handbook of Contemporary Shakespeare Criticism is a wide-ranging, authoritative guide to research on critical approaches to Shakespeare by an international team of leading scholars. It contains chapters on 20 specific critical practices, each grounded in analysis of a Shakespeare play. These practices range from foundational approaches including character studies, close reading and genre studies, through those that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s that challenged the preconceptions on which traditional liberal humanism is based, including feminism, cultural materialism and new historicism. Perspectives drawn from postcolonial, queer studies and critical race studies, besides more recent critical practices including presentism, ecofeminism and disability all receive detailed treatment.

In addition to its coverage of distinct critical approaches, the handbook contains various sections that provide non-specialists with practical help: an A–Z glossary of key terms and concepts, a chronology of major publications and events, an introduction to resources for study of the field and a substantial annotated bibliography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350327504
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/14/2022
Series:	The Arden Shakespeare Handbooks
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Evelyn Gajowski is Barrick Distinguished Scholar and Professor of English Emerita at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. She has published four books: The Merry Wives of Windsor: New Critical Essays, with Phyllis Rackin (2015); Presentism, Gender, and Sexuality in Shakespeare (2009); Re-Visions of Shakespeare: Essays in Honor of Robert Ornstein (2004); and The Art of Loving: Female Subjectivity and Male Discursive Traditions in Shakespeare's Tragedies (1992). She serves as Series Editor of the Arden Shakespeare and Theory Series.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Series Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

1.0 Introduction: Twenty-first-century Shakespeares, Evelyn Gajowski (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA)

PART ONE: Foundational Studies
1.1 Close Reading, Kent Cartwright (University of Maryland, College Park, USA)
1.2 Genre Studies, Michelle Dowd (University of Alabama, USA)
1.3 Character Studies, Michael Bristol (McGill University, Canada)

PART TWO: Challenges to Traditional Liberal Humanism
2.1 Marxist Studies, Christian Smith (Kingston University, UK)
2.2 New Historicist Studies, Hugh Grady (Arcadia University, USA)
2.3 Cultural Materialist Studies, Christopher Marlow (University of Lincoln, UK)
2.4 Feminist Studies, Jessica McCall (Delaware Valley University, USA)
2.5 Psychoanalytic Studies, Carolyn E. Brown (University of San Francisco, USA)

PART 3: Matters of Difference
3.1 Critical Race Studies, Arthur L. Little, Jr. (UCLA, USA)
3.2 Postcolonial Studies, Ruben Espinosa (University of Texas, El Paso, USA)
3.3 Queer Studies, Anthony Guy Patricia (Concord University, USA)


PART 4: Millennial Directions
4.1 Ecocritical Studies, Randall Martin (University of New Brunswick, Canada)
4.2 Computational Studies, Brett Greatley-Hirsch (University of Leeds, UK)
4.3 Spiritual Studies, Peter Atkinson (Worcester Cathedral, UK)
4.4 Presentist Studies, Miguel Ramalhete Gomes (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
4.5 Global Studies, Alexa Alice Joubin (George Washington University, USA)

PART 5: Twenty-first-century Directions
5.1 Disability Studies, Katherine Schaap Williams (NYU Abu Dhabi)
5.2 Ecofeminist Studies, Jennifer Munroe (University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA) and Rebecca Laroche (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA)
5.3 Posthumanist Studies, Karen Raber (University of Mississippi, USA)
5.4 Cognitive Ethology Studies, Craig Dionne (Eastern Michigan University, USA)

Appendices, Gary Lindeburg, Evelyn Gajowski, and Dorothy Vanderford (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA)
Timeline of Significant Developments
A-Z Glossary of Key Terms
Annotated Bibliography
Resources for Further Research

Index

Editorial Reviews

A vital collection for anyone who is studying Shakespeare. This handbook deftly covers the critical lenses that have been applied to Shakespeare's works in the past and provides a window into what is to come.” —Ayanna Thompson, Arizona State University, USA

“One of the strengths of this book is its scholarly comprehensiveness, which alone will render it indispensable for future researchers and committed students. Another is Its lucidity and accessibility. Yet even more significant is the way it situates Shakespeare in relation to the most fertile and exciting intellectual moment the university humanities have ever seen, and the likes of which we might not see again, given what's happening to higher education in the West.” —Professor Jonathan Dollimore, formerly University of Sussex, UK

“What this collection does do is open up possibilities of thinking differently and learning from others. The book is structured in a roughly chronological order, each chapter is useful in not only providing a history of each form of study but also clarifies important terms and offers a good bibliography for further study. Moreover, there are helpful appendices with a glossary and annotated bibliography ... In conclusion, this is an indispensable help for all critics, young and old.” —Alicante Jourbanal of English Studies

From the Publisher