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PREFACE
Historyandmemoryareconceptsthatraisemanyproblemsassoonasonetriestoformu-
lateanyworkingdefinitionsasstartingpointsforresearchorthecriticalanalysisofatext.
Recentinitiativesandinnovationsinhistoriography,philosophy,andhistoryofideasdo
notoffersolidsteppingstones;rather,theyimpelustowardsverytroubledseas.Thetradi-
tionalconceptofhistoryasadisciplinethatuncoversthetruthofthepasthaslongbeen
undermined.Moreover,truth,asageneralandobjectivestateofourunderstandingofthe
past,iscancelledbytherelativisationandsubjectivisationofepistemology;evenmore,the
pastappearstopossessanuncertainontologyofthingsthatarenot,whichopensupnu-
merousdifficultiesinformulatingdefinitionsofhistoryandhistoriography.*
Theprojectunderthetitle“ShakespeareinEurope:HistoryandMemory,”launched
in2003,wasmeanttochallengescholarstoapproachthetopicwithoutgivinganydirec-
tionssuppliedbyready-madeformulae.“History”wasunderstoodasawideroadleading
toinvestigationofShakespeareantexts:therewasnointentiontonarrowthefielddown
tothehistoryplays,ortospecificconceptsoftimeandspace.“Memory”suggestedthe
inevitableelementofthepersonal,social,ornationalconsciousnessintheformationof
thepastnarratives.Theideawastorelatetheplaysastexts(printedorperformed)toany
contextthatwouldhelptothrowlighton“thingsthatarenot”inordertodemonstratethe
time-boundchangesthatshapeourunderstandingof“thetruth”ofthepast,whetherof
thepastcreatedbytheworldoftheplay,orofpastattitudesandideas,political,aesthetic,
orliterary.WealsosoughttorelatetheShakespeareantextaswepresentlycomprehend
ittothetimeandspaceofreception,whethercritical,ortheatrical,inbothcasesbringing
tothesurfacethespecificrelationofhistoryandmemory,and,inmostcases,historyand
memoryoftheculturalandpoliticaldimensionsofthatreception.Equallyimportant
seemedtherelationofthepastandthepresent.Thelatterclearlyinvolvestheissueof
memory,whilememoryopensuptheproblematicsofrememberingnotonlythepast,but
alsothetextwhichimmediatelydirectsustoseriouspoliticalandideologicalimplica-
tions,oftentiedupwiththeproblematicsoftranslation.Inshort,theideawastoinvite
reflectionsontextaswellasonwaysandmethodsofdealingwithitinthevastcontext
oftheEuropeanpast.Understandably,theideaof“ShakespearetheHistorian”loomed
largeasapossiblefieldofinvestigation,vastandmany-faceted,aswillappear.
Theresponsetotheprojectwasenthusiastic:theresearchbroughtforthpapersand
debatesonmanydifferentissues.Theconference,plannedtodeveloptheoverarching
*Cf.P.Ricoeur’sstudyLamémoire,l’histoire,l’oublie,Paris:EditionsduSeuil,2000.