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Introduction
Inthecold,hardlanguageofinternationalcapitalism,Shakespeareis
aglobalcommodity,acurrencythathascreditevenmoreuniversalthanthe
AmericandollarandtheEuro.Asaconsequence,hisplaysandwords,taken
inandoutofcontext,havebeenshamelesslyexploited,mostnotablyin
aculturalimperialismthatseekstohomogenizeandimprintcertainvalues
onallcountriesintheworld.AdvertisingandHollywoodhaveclearlymilked
himforalltheycan.Atthesametime,however,theoppositealsoapplies.
Shakespearehas,sincetheearlynineteenthcentury,beenregionalized,and
givenalocalinflection,awholenewsetofspecificmeaningsbasedon
auniquegeographicallocation,orethnicgroup,orpoliticalaffiliation.He
hasbeentransmutednotintoacommoditybutacause.Andevenmore
mysteriously,thepoetryhasbecomesomethingevenmoreprivate,avoicing
ofspiritualandemotionallongingsandaspirationforbillionsofindividual,
solitaryreaders,infar-flungplacesontheglobe.Countlesstimesover,he
hasfound‘alocalhabitationandaname,,andparadoxicallyhehasbeen
givenahostoflocalhabitations.Hisplaysarebothglobalandlocal,and
itistemptingtocoinanew,ifuglywordtodescribethem,‘‘glocal,,.
1This
bookexaminesarangeofwaysinwhichthephenomenonoperates,from
theglobal,thenational,theethnic,theindividual,tohisubiquitousnessin
newmedia.Inthisintroduction,ratherthansummarisingtheessayswhich
speakforthemselves,Iroammorediscursivelyacrosstheterritoryof
appropriationandadaptation,andhazardsomespeculationsastohowand
whytheyoccur.
Dinosaursarebignewsthesedays.Themostintriguingfactaboutthemis
thattheyalldiedout,allbutonespeciesanyway,birds.Theoriesabound,but
themostplausibleappearstobethatthebiglumberingonescouldn,tmove
much,ateouttheirimmediateenvironmentanddiedofstarvation,whereas
1TheneologismhasbeenanticipatedbyRichardBurtinadifferentcontext:‘Shakespeare,
‘‘Glo-cal-ization,,,race,andthesmallscreensofpost-popularculture,,[in:]R.Burtand
L.E.Boose(eds),ShakespearetheMovie,II:Popularizingtheplaysonfilm,TV,videoand
DVD,LondonandNewYork2003,Routledge,pp.14–36.
