Shakespeare in the World

<p>Shakespeare in the World traces the reception histories and adaptations of Shakespeare in the nineteenth century when his works became well-known to non-Anglophone communities in both Europe and colonial India. Sen provides thorough and searching examinations of nineteenth-century theatrical operatic novelistic and prose adaptations that are still read and performed in order to argue that crucial to the transmission and appeal of Shakespeare’s plays were the adaptations they generated in a wide range of media. These adaptations in turn made the absorption of the plays into different national cultural traditions possible contributing to the development of nationalist cosmopolitanisms in the receiving cultures. Sen challenges the customary reading of Shakespeare reception in terms of hegemony and mimicry showing instead important parallels in the practices of Shakespeare adaptation in Europe and colonial India. <i>Shakespeare in the World</i> strikes a fine balance between the Bard’s iconicity and his colonial and post-colonial afterlives and is an important contribution to Shakespeare studies.</p>