Shakespeare’s Eternal Voice: Fictional autobiographies of the Bard

Autori

  • Tomasz Kowalski Adam Mickiewicz University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/9176

Parole chiave:

Shakespeare, William, fictional autobiography, biography, biofictions, Rush, Christopher, Wearing J. P.

Abstract

The paper focuses on two fictional works that strive to revive Shakespeare's voice, that is Christopher Rush's "Will" (2007), and J. P. Wearing's ÒThe Shakespeare's Diaries: A Fictional Autobiography" (2007), which although significantly different in terms of form find common ground in employing the first-person narrative in order to depict Shakespeare's life. The author analyses the image of the Bard that emerges from the novel and the diary, and the way in which both works transform the facts known from certain documents or based on extensive research into a fictional narrative. He argues that although both works try to satisfy the curiosity of the readers, they belong to two different types of representations found in fictional biographies of the Bard, and therefore the images they create address different kinds of collective desires and fantasies of the mass audience.

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Biografia autore

Tomasz Kowalski, Adam Mickiewicz University

Tomasz Kowalski is an assistant professor in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Performance at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. His research focuses on academic and fictional biographies of William Shakespeare. He co-edited an anthology entitled "Szekspir. Teoria lancasterska - domysly i fakty" ("Shakespeare. The Lancastrian Theory - Speculations and Facts; Warsaw, 2012). His research involved also the works of W. H. Auden, particularly his Shakespearean essays and libretti.

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Pubblicato

2017-11-14

Come citare

Kowalski, Tomasz. 2017. «Shakespeare’s Eternal Voice: Fictional Autobiographies of the Bard». Altre Modernità, novembre, 36-45. https://doi.org/10.13130/2035-7680/9176.