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Why should people interested in territory read Shakespeare?
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Elden, Stuart (2018) Why should people interested in territory read Shakespeare? Territory, Politics, Governance, 7 (3). pp. 289-296. doi:10.1080/21622671.2018.1491885 ISSN 2162-2671.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2018.1491885
Abstract
This paper argues that territory is more than a simple concept, and that William Shakespeare is a valuable guide to understanding its complexities. Shakespeare’s plays explore many aspects of geography, politics and territory. They include ideas about the division of kingdoms in King Lear, the struggle over its control in Macbeth and many of the English history plays, to the vulnerability of small territories with powerful neighbours in Hamlet. However, the plays also help us to understand the legal and economic issues around territory, of the importance of technical innovations around surveying and cartography, and the importance of landscapes and bodies. Shakespeare is especially interesting because debates in political theory at this time concerned a recognizably modern understanding, and European states were consolidating their own rule, marking boundaries and seizing colonial possessions. Shakespeare dramatizes many of these themes, from The Tempest to plays set in the Eastern Mediterranean such as Othello. Territory is a word, concept and practice, and their interrelation is explored with Shakespeare as a guide. This builds on the author’s previous work on territory, but also develops the understanding further, especially around the colonial, corporeal and geophysical. Historical work on our contemporary concepts can also be revealing of our present.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | J Political Science > JZ International relations P Language and Literature > PR English literature |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation, Territory, National -- In literature, Acquisition of territory -- In literature | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Territory, Politics, Governance | ||||||
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis | ||||||
ISSN: | 2162-2671 | ||||||
Official Date: | 19 July 2018 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 7 | ||||||
Number: | 3 | ||||||
Page Range: | pp. 289-296 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1080/21622671.2018.1491885 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Description: | Free access available online until September 31 2018 |
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Date of first compliant deposit: | 21 June 2018 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 19 January 2020 | ||||||
Related URLs: |
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