Link It “to the source from whence it came”. Shakespeare Source Study after the Digital Turn


Abstract


This paper discusses the digitally inflected changes occurring in Shakespeare source study – a long-standing research field that burst back into prominence over the last few years. The recent publication of volumes such as Shakespeare, Origins, and Originality (Holland 2015), Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study (Britton, Walter 2018) or Shakespeare’s Resources (Drakakis in press) vouches indeed for a steady resurgence of interest in “the circulation, transformation and function of Shakespeare’s sources” (Bigliazzi 2018, p. 13) – a rising tide heightened, no doubt, by the proliferation of electronic archives, digital critical editions, wiki databases, and corpus-based searching tools designed to bring early modern (inter)textuality into sharper focus. This “flood of digital possibilities” (Lavagnino 2014, p. 21) has greatly impacted on Shakespeare source criticism, modelling new ways to explore and identify the intertextual, subtextual, and contextual forms of influence that shaped the playwright’s production. In this essay, such an ongoing shift of perspectives is examined by sorting through a series of digital methodologies and resources that show promise in improving how we visualise, analyse, and identify Shakespeare’s diverse sources. Laying emphasis on the dovetailing of “‘old source study’ and more contemporary approaches to textual and cultural analysis” (Britton, Walter 2018, p. 1) fostered by the digital medium, the paper illustrates the benefits, limits, and prospects of digital editing and archiving, quantitative analyses, wiki databases, and digital thick mapping for the study of Shakespeare’s creative process and early modern European theatricality tout court.

DOI Code: 10.1285/i22390359v45p53

Keywords: Shakespeare source study; digital archiving; quantitative analyses; wiki databases; digital thick mapping

References


Bakhtin M. 1979, Estetika slovesnovo tvorchestva, Bocharov, Moscow.

Belsey C. 2015, The Elephants’ Graveyard Revisited: Shakespeare at Work in Anthony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet and All’s Well that Ends Well, in Holland P. (ed.), Shakespeare, Origins, and Originality, in “Shakespeare Survey” 68, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 62-72.

Bigliazzi S. 2018, Romeo before Romeo: Notes on Shakespeare Source Study, in “Memoria di Shakespeare” 5, pp. 13-39.

Bilton P. 2000, Another Island, Another Story: A Source for Shakespeare’s The Tempest, “Renaissance Forum” 5 [1]. http://mhema-litluv.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-island-another-story.html (15.07.2021).

Borlik T.A. 2016, Review of Lost Plays in Shakespeare’s England, ed. by David McInnis and Matthew Steggle, in “Early Theatre: A Journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama” 19 [1], pp. 158-160.

Boyle B. 2018, New Source for Shakespeare Leads to the Same Old Problems, in “Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter” 54 [2], pp. 19-21.

Britton D.A. and Walter M. (eds.) 2018, Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audience, Authors and Digital Technologies, Routledge, New York.

Bullough G. 1957-1975, Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare, 8 vols., Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Campana A. 2019, All Roads lead to Campion: George North, William Shakespeare, and the Chandos Portrait, in “The Heythrop Journal” 60, pp. 170-196.

Carson C. and Kirwan P. 2014, Shakespeare and the Digital World, in Carson C. and Kirwan P. (eds.), Shakespeare and the Digital World: Redefining Scholarship and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-8.

Clare J. 2014, Shakespeare’s Stage Traffic: Imitation, Borrowing and Competition in Renaissance Theatre, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Craig H. 2021, Shakespeare and authorship attribution methodologies, in Erne L. (ed.), The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Textual Studies, Bloomsbury, London/New York, pp. 225-243.

Craig H. and Greatley-Hirsch B. 2017, Style, Computers, and Early Modern Drama: Beyond Authorship, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Craig H. and Kinney A.F. (eds.) 2009, Shakespeare, Computers, and the Mystery of Authorship, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Crawforth H., Dustagheer S. and Young J. 2014, Shakespeare in London, Bloomsbury, London/New Delhi/New York/Sydney.

De Benedictis A. 2019, Miti, prototipi, enigmi di ribelli e ribellioni, e lezioni della storia, in “Storicamente” 14, pp. 1-28.

Drakakis J. 2018, Inside the Elephants’ Graveyard: Revising Geoffrey Bullough’s Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare, in Halsey K. and Vine A. (eds.), Shakespeare and Authority: Citations, Conceptions, and Constructions, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmill/New York, pp. 55-78.

Drakakis J. in press, Shakespeare’s Resources, Manchester University Press, Manchester/London.

Dustagheer S. 2020, Shakespeare and London: A Dictionary, Bloomsbury, London/New Delhi/New York/Sydney.

Estill L. 2019, Digital Humanities’ Shakespeare Problem, in “Humanities”, 8 [45]. https://doi.org/10.3390/h8010045 (15.07.2021).

Greatley-Hirsch B. and Johnson L. 2018, Shakespeare Source Study in the Age of Google: Revisiting Greenblatt’s Elephants and Horatio’s Ground, in Britton D.A and Walter M. (eds), Rethinking Source Study. Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies, Routledge, New York/London, pp. 235-278.

Greenblatt S. 1985, Shakespeare and the Exorcists, in Parker P. and Hartman G. (eds.), Shakespeare and the Question of Theory, New York/London, Routledge, pp. 163-187.

Harris J.G. 1994, “Narcissus in thy Face”: Roman Desire and the Difference it Fakes in Antony and Cleopatra, in “Shakespeare Quarterly” 45, pp. 408-425.

Hess W.R. 2019, Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter, “A brief discourse of rebellion and rebels” by George North: a newly uncovered manuscript source for Shakespeare’s plays, in “Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter” 55 [2], pp. 21-24.

Hodgdon B. 2010, Introduction, in Shakespeare W., The Taming of the Shrew, Bloomsbury, London/New Delhi/New York/Sydney, pp. 1-132.

Holland P. (ed.) 2015, Shakespeare, Origins, and Originality, “Shakespeare Survey” 68, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Holquist M. 2002, Dialogism. Bakhtin and his World, Routledge, London/New York.

Houlahan M. 2013, Shakespeare and the Sea of Stories, in Shaw J., Kelly P. and Semler L.E. (eds.), Storytelling: Critical and Creative Approaches, Palgrave, Houndsmill/New York, pp. 157- 166.

Knutson R.L. (ed.) 2012, Hester and Ahasuerus, in McInnis D., Steggle M. and Teramura M. (gen. eds.), Lost Plays Database. https://lostplays.folger.edu/Hester_and_Ahasuerus (15.07.2021).

Knutson R.L., McInnis D. and Steggle M. 2020, Introduction: Coping with Loss, in Knutson L.R., McInnis D. and Steggle M. (eds.), Loss and the Literary Culture of Shakespeare’s Time, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmill/New York, pp. 1-19.

Knutson R.L. 2004, Playwrights, repertories, the book trade, and company commerce, in Knutson R.L., Playing Companies and Commerce in Shakespeare’s Time, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 48-74.

Knutson R.L. 2005, Toe to Toe Across Maid Lane: Repertorial Competition at the Rose and Globe, 1599–1600, in Schlueter J. and Nelsen P. (eds.), Acts of Criticism: Performance Matters in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Madison/Teaneck, pp. 21-37.

Lancashire I. and Tersigni E. 2017, Shakespeare’s hard words and our hard senses, in Jenstad J., Kaethler M. and Roberts-Smith J. (eds.), Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools, Routledge, New York, pp. 27-46.

Lavagnino L. 2014, Shakespeare in the Digital Humanities, in Carson C. and Kirwan P. (eds.), Shakespeare and the Digital World: Redefining Scholarship and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 14-23.

Levin R. 1998, Another ‘Source’ for The Alchemist and Another Look at Source Studies, in “English Literary Renaissance” 28 [2], pp. 210-230.

Lewis R. 2018, Review of A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels by George North: A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare’s Plays by Dennis McCarthy and June Schlueter, in “The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society” 19 [4], pp. 514-520.

Lynch S.J. 1998, Shakespearean Intertextuality: Studies in Selected Sources and Plays Greenwood Press, Westport (CT).

Macdonald P.J. 2007, Is “Hand D” of Sir Thomas More Shakespeare’s? Thomas Bayes and the Elliott-Valenza Authorship Tests, in “Early Modern Literary Studies”, 12 [3], pp. 1-36.

Massai S. 2021, Shakespeare and Digital Editions, in Erne L. (ed.), The Arden Research Handbook of Shakespeare and Textual Studies, Bloomsbury, New York/London/Dublin, pp. 244-261.

McCarthy D. 2018, Rhodri Lewis, Source Study, and George North’s Brief Discourse. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329880669_Rhodri_Lewis_Source-Study_and_George_North's_Brief_Discourse (15.07.2021).

McCarthy D. and Schlueter J. 2018, A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels by George North: Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare’s Plays, D. S. Brewer, Cambridge.

McInnis D. 2014, Webs of Engagement, in Carson C. and Kirwan P. (eds.), Shakespeare and the Digital World: Redefining Scholarship and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

McInnis D. 2018, Lost Plays and Source Study, in Britton D.A. and Walter M. (eds.), Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audience, Authors and Digital Technologies, Routledge, New York.

McInnis D. 2021, Shakespeare and Lost Plays. Reimagining Drama in Early Modern England, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Muir K. 1977, The Sources of Shakespeare’s Plays, Methuen, London.

Palmer P. 2009, Edmond Ironside and the Question of Shakespearean Authorship, in Craig H. and Kinney A.F. (eds.), Shakespeare, Computers, and the Mystery of Authorship, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 100-115.

Presner T., Shepard D. and Kawano Y. 2014, HyperCities: Thick Mapping in Digital Humanities, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (MA).

Richardson B. 2018, Mapping the Literary Text: Spatio-cultural Theory and Practice, in “Philosophy and Literature” 42, pp. 67-80.

Segre C. 1984, Teatro e romanzo, Einaudi, Torino.

Serpieri A. 2002, Polifonia Shakespeariana, Bulzoni, Roma.

Shakespeare W. 2017, The Taming of the Shrew, Thompson A. (ed.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Siemon J.R. (ed.) 2009, King Richard III, Bloomsbury, London/New Delhi/New York/Sydney.

Stewart A. 2019, Review of “A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels” by George North: A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare’s Plays, in “Renaissance Quarterly” 72 [3], pp. 1155-1156.

Stow J. and Fitz-Stephen W. 2021, Survey of London: Farrigdon Ward Without. https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/stow_1598_FARR2.htm (15.07.2021).

Taylor G., Nance J. and Cooper K. 2017, Shakespeare and Who? Aeschylus, Edward III and Thomas Kyd, in Holland P. (ed.), Creating Shakespeare, “Shakespeare Survey” 70, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 146-153.

Vickers B. 18 April 2008, Thomas Kyd, Secret Sharer, in “Times Literary Supplement”, pp. 13-15.

Vickers B. 2009, The Marriage of Philology and Informatics, in “British Academy Review” 14, pp. 41-44.

Vickers B. 2014, The Two Authors of Edward III, in Holland P. (ed.), Shakespeare’s Collaborative Work, “Shakespeare Survey” 67, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 102-118.

Walter M. and Klann S. 2018, Shakespeare Source Study in the Early Twenty-first Century: A resurrection?, in “Literature Compass” 15 [9]. https://doi.org/10.1111/lic3.12486 (15.07.2021).

Wiggins M. 2014, Where to Find Lost Plays, in McInnis D. and Steggle M. (eds.), Lost Plays in Shakespeare’s England, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndsmill/New York, pp. 255-278.

Websites and Tools

BHO – British History Online. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/ (15.07.2021).

DRE – Digital Renaissance Editions, coordinated by B. Greatly-Hirsch et al. https://digitalrenaissance.uvic.ca/ (15.07.2021).

EEBO-TCP – Early English Books Online-Text Creation Partnership. https://textcreationpartnership.org (15.07.2021).

Enciclopedia Treccani (website), coordinated by L. Romani. https://www.treccani.it (15.07.2021).

Gallica, Bibliothèque Nationale de France. https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/it/content/accueil-it?mode=desktop (15.07.2021).

ISE – Internet Shakespeare Editions, edited by M. Best (emeritus co-ordinating editor) and J. Jenstad. https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/ (15.07.2021).

LEMDO – Linked Early Modern Drama Online, co-ordinating editors J. Jenstad and B. Greatley-Hirsch. https://lemdo.uvic.ca/ (15.07.2021).

LEME – Lexicons of Early Modern English, edited by I. Lancashire. https://leme.library.utoronto.ca/ (15.07.2021).

LPD – Lost Plays Database, edited by D. McInnis, M. Steggle and M. Teramura. https://lostplays.folger.edu/Main_Page (15.07.2021).

MoEML – Map of Early Modern London, general editor J. Jenstad https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/index.htm (15.07.2021).

ODNB – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://www.oxforddnb.com/ (15.07.2021).

QME – the Queen’s Men Editions, general editor H. Ostovich. https://qme.uvic.ca/Foyer/historyofthequeensmen/index.html (15.07.2021).

SCS – Shakespeare’s Classical Sources, general editor S. Bigliazzi. https://skene.dlls.univr.it/shakespeares-classical-sources/ (15.07.2021).

SENS – Shakespeare’s Narrative Sources: Italian Novellas and their European Dissemination, general editor S. Bigliazzi. https://skene.dlls.univr.it/sens-home/ (15.07.2021).

The Internet Archive. https://archive.org/ (15.07.2021).

TLFi – Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé. http://atilf.atilf.fr/ (15.07.2021).

WCopyfind software, available at Bloomfield L. (ed.), The Plagiarism Resource Site. https://plagiarism.bloomfieldmedia.com/software/wcopyfind/ (15.07.2021).


Full Text: pdf

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.
کاغذ a4

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.