Antipodal Shakespeare: Remembering and Forgetting in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, 1916 - 2016

Despite a recent surge of critical interest in the Shakespeare Tercentenary, a great deal has been forgotten about this key moment in the history of the place of Shakespeare in national and global culture – much more than has been remembered. This book offers new archival discoveries about, and new interpretations of, the Tercentenary celebrations in Britain, Australia and New Zealand and reflects on the long legacy of those celebrations. This collection gathers together five scholars from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to reflect on the modes of commemoration of Shakespeare across the hemispheres in and after the Tercentenary year, 1916. It was at this moment of remembering in 1916 that ‘global Shakespeare’ first emerged in recognizable form. Each contributor performs their own ‘antipodal’ reading, assessing in parallel events across two hemispheres, geographically opposite but politically and culturally connected in the wake of empire.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1:‘Goblin’s market: Israel Gollancz, the 1916 Tercentenary, and the invention of “global Shakespeare”’ reflections I Chapter 2: ‘The Shakespeare Hut: Anzac meets Shakespeare in London, 1916’ reflections II Chapter 3:‘Oblivion and Memory: New Zealand Inside the Shakespeare Hut (and Beyond), 1916’ reflections III Chapter 4: ‘The Afterlife of a Memorial’ reflections IV Chapter 5: ‘”Remembering with Advantages”: Henry V and the play of commemorative rhetoric in Australia’ After Word: ‘Memory, Architecture, Space’ Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Gordon McMullan is Professor of English at King's College London, UK. Philip Mead is Chair of Australian Literature at the University of Western Australia, Australia. Ailsa Grant Ferguson is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at the University of Brighton, UK. Mark Houlahan is Senior Lecturer in the English Programme in the School of Arts at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Kate Flaherty is a lecturer in English and Drama at the Australian National University, Australia.

Review :
A short and poignant collection of essays about a conjunction of public remembrances…Taken together, they offer a powerful account of Shakespeare’s role as a mnemonic juggernaut. Successfully analyzes the complex terms involved in the Tercente-nary celebrations in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, revealing how this stage in Shakespeare commemoration entailed unique performances of remembering and forgetting.