Theaters of Translation : Cosmopolitan Vernaculars in Shakespeare's England / Andrew S. Keener.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keener, Andrew S., author.

Series:

Strode studies in early modern literature and culture.

Strode Studies in Early Modern Literature and Culture Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English drama--Early modern and Elizabethan, 1500-1600--History and criticism.

English drama.

Cosmopolitanism in literature.

Vernacular literature.

Literature and society--Great Britain--History.

Literature and society.

Language and culture--Great Britain--History.

Language and culture.

Genre:

Critiques litteraires.

Literary criticism.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (270 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Tuscaloosa, Alabama : University of Alabama Press, [2025]

Summary:

"In Theaters of Translation: Cosmopolitan Vernaculars in Shakespeare's England, Andrew S. Keener argues that plays by Thomas Kyd, Mary Sidney Herbert, Ben Jonson, and others were shaped by and contributed to a multilingual Europe full of dictionaries, grammars, and language-learning dialogues. Bringing together critical discussions and methodologies in transnational literary studies, book history, and the history of theater and performance, Keener proposes a fresh, multilingual approach to English Renaissance drama in a way that also liberates the histories of early modern languages and literatures from their national silos. Rather than accepting Shakespeare as England's "national playwright," and instead of inscribing the period's theater and drama within England's political, geographic, and linguistic limits, "Theaters of Translation" demonstrates the intercourse between England's drama and the great variety of multilingual dictionaries, dialogues, grammars, and language manuals circulating throughout Europe. Covering the period 1570-1640, when England's drama-and, crucially, the English language itself-was a proving ground for linguistic mixture, Keener emphasizes the term "cosmopolitan vernaculars," which refers to non-classical languages that modeled transnational forms of belonging for playgoers, readers, and authors across early modern Europe; in doing so, he challenges scholarship that continues to figure Renaissance England as a site of national and linguistic cohesion. The critical genealogy of the term "cosmopolitan vernaculars" is itself rooted in studies of premodern Sanskrit and in postcolonial theory addressing the British Empire, so by acknowledging the complexities associated with the terms "cosmopolitanism" and "vernacularity," Keener offers a conceptual and historical bridge between the medieval period and the imperial era, making room for linguistic considerations of cosmopolitanism in England among French, Italian, Spanish, and other European languages in relation to the English theater. Linking recent contributions to cosmopolitan theory with transnational studies of early modern literature and culture-particularly studies examining the dynamics of multiple languages, translation, and polyglot manuals and dictionaries in Europe-"Theaters of Translation" highlights both the ways in which cosmopolitanism manifests through vernacular languages-in print and performance-and the ways languages themselves can exhibit cosmopolitanism for those who encounter them on the page or on the stage. With this evidence, Keener analyzes the workings of cosmopolitan vernaculars in early modern England, and in ways that open up new, transnational interpretations of plays. "Theaters of Translation" also seeks to make much more out of details known to scholars already-such as the fact that Ben Jonson owned and annotated a copy of Pietro Aretino's scandalous Italian dialogues, or that Shakespeare's First Folio was advertised for sale in Germany before its London publication-but which have been overlooked or obscured because they do not always agree with the prevailing, nationally-focused approaches to early modern drama in England"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-8173-9567-9

OCLC:

1518281063