Shakespeare in 1916: The First World War & the Origins of Global Shakespeare

In this talk, Professor Gordon McMullan will reflect on the intersection of the Shakespeare Tercentenary and the First World War, looking in particular at one of the main elements of Tercentenary commemoration, Israel Gollancz’s Book of Homage to Shakespeare. He will note the role of Shakespeare at this time as currency for cultural, political and social debate, arguing that the Book of Homage, even as it ostensibly celebrates Shakespeare as the ‘poet of empire’, marks the emergence of what we now call ‘global Shakespeare’.