Diversifying Shakespeare

Abstract

Critical race studies in Shakespeare have generated a vital body of scholarship that affords us deeper insight both to racial formations in early modern England and to the way contemporary understandings of racial difference infuse Shakespeare with a culturally relevant currency. However, critical race studies remain relatively marginalized within the broader field of Shakespeare studies. This essay reviews and underscores the scholarship that has kindled an important conversation about race in Shakespeare in an attempt to bring it to the fore, and it draws attention to the promise behind ethnic studies-with particular attention to Latino and Latina identity-within the field of Shakespeare studies. Scholarship that emphasizes the role of race, language, cultural identity, assimilation, and immigration in early modern literature and culture is making an impact on ethnic studies in Shakespeare, but ample room remains for us to diversify our field. This essay ultimately calls for Shakespeare and early modern scholars to encourage future research and pedagogical practices where the diversification of Shakespeare studies, and the Shakespeare academy, can materialize.

‘It's William Back from the Dead’: Commemoration, Representation, and Race in Akala's Hip‐Hop Shakespeare

“…Thompson urges the various constituencies of the book's audience, including teachers, theatre practitioners, and community activists to facilitate discussions about race both in and through Shakespeare, which she argues might be at its most valuable where it is destabilized or regarded as an ongoing process. Thompson's call is echoed by Ruben Espinosa (), who showcases the important work within the field around race and diversity, yet also suggests that such work remains marginalized within the broader currents of the Shakespeare academy. For Espinosa, writing five years after Thompson's influential work, all of us invested in Shakespeare continue to have a material role to play in realizing greater diversity: ‘our field's commitment to uncovering and discussing social and racial inequalities – in the world of Shakespeare and in our own – through race and ethnic studies should compel us to engender an atmosphere of inclusivity when it comes to our field, one that encourages future scholars to challenge the perceived delineation of Shakespeare's meaning’ (ibid.…”