Shakespeare in the Present

by Terence Hawkes

Book Overview

Shakespeare in the Present is a stunning collection of essays by Terence Hawkes, which engage with, explain, and explore 'presentism'. Presentism is a critical manoeuvre which uses relevant aspects of the contemporary as a crucial trigger for its investigations. It deliberately begins with the material present and lets that set the interrogative agenda. This book suggests ways in which its principles may be applied to aspects of Shakespeare's plays.
Hawkes...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0415261961
• ISBN13: 9780415261968
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A thrill ride

Hawkes' piece of literary metacriticism trumps the work of the critic by suggesting that adopting a singular view about a text is not only futile, but worthless. Dizzily dipping between Shakespearean texts and the American jazz tradition, Hawkes proposes new possibilities for criticism that may free us yet of our anxieties as critics. Or maybe it's just a delightful daydream.