Shakespeare first travelled to the Korean peninsula at the turn of the twentieth century and has since enjoyed enduring popularity in classrooms, on the stage, and far beyond. The playwright’s work has provided and continues to provide fertile ground for performance, from direct Korean-language stagings to hybrid productions which marry the Shakespearean text to Korean cultural forms such as operatic changgeuk and the traditional musical storytelling medium of pansori. Our proposed collection of essays, Hanguk Shakespeare: Korean Receptions and Transformations, aims to explore the rich tradition of Shakespeare in Korea from the turn of the twentieth century to the present day in all its various forms and manifestations. We are especially interested in interrogating the tension between the global/foreign and the local/familiar when thinking about Shakespeare in Korea, such as inter- and trans-culturality, linguistic and conceptual (un)translatability, as well as the politics of adaptation and appropriation. What are some of the (un)expected consequences of the encounter between the global/foreign and the local/familiar?
In addition to case studies and examples which explore these themes, we are also keen to offer fresh perspectives on theorising Shakespeare in Korea. To what extent are postcolonial theories and frameworks useful for understanding the distinctive ways in which Shakespeare has been adapted, appropriated, and transformed in Korea, especially when we take into consideration its distinctive non-Western colonial experience? And if these frameworks are not productive, how should we theorise Shakespeare in Korea? More broadly speaking, we also aim to question, destabilise, and rethink the boundaries which have confined the study of Shakespeare, adaptation, and performance, boundaries which more often than not assume an Anglophone starting point. For instance, we do not designate ‘British Shakespeare’ or ‘American Shakespeare’, and yet we specify (as this book inevitably does) ‘Korean Shakespeare’ or ‘Shakespeare in East Asia’ (and so on). Are these labels useful? What hierarchies and viewpoints do they fossilise? And returning to the question of the global/foreign and the local/familiar, what is their impact on Shakespeare scholarship and scholars of Shakespeare more generally? Ultimately, we hope for this book to be both a starting point for anyone interested in Shakespeare in Korea as well as a collection of the most up-to-date scholarship on thinking about Shakespeare in a Korean context.
Suggested themes and topics
We welcome contributions which include (but are not limited to) the following themes and topics:
- Theorising Shakespearean adaptation and performance in Korea
- Defining “new directions” for intercultural, multicultural, global, glocal, and postcolonial productions of Shakespeare adaptations
- The necessity of categories such as “Asian” or “Korean” when discussing Shakespeare; the relationship between interculturalism and cultural imperialism
- The history of Shakespeare reception, translation, and performance in the Korean peninsula
- The use of Shakespeare in Korean political and nationalist agendas
- Case studies of Shakespearean theatrical, cinematic, and literary adaptations in Korea
- Shakespeare as commentary on Korean history, development, and industrialisation
- Shakespeare in Korean popular culture
- Pedagogical approaches to Korean Shakespeares and Shakespeare in Korea
- The transmission, performance, and use(s) of Shakespeare in North Korea
Cross-cultural and cross-linguistic (e.g. Korean/Japanese; Korean/Chinese) approaches and examples are welcome, but contributors should bear in mind that this is first and foremost a book about Korean Shakespeare (and its categorisation).
Submission guidelines
We plan to submit a proposal to Arden’s Global Shakespeare Inverted series by the end of January 2025. Contributions are expected to be a chapter of roughly 6,000 – 7,000 words in length (including footnotes). While the book will be published in English, we may be able to access limited funding to support the translation of manuscripts should authors decide to write in Korean. All submissions must be original and not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
Interested contributors should send a proposal of 300 words and a short bio to [email protected] by 15th November 2024 outlining their topic and argument. Any questions should be directed to the same email address.
About the editors
Han Yehrim (Korea National Open University)
Yehrim HAN is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Korea National Open University. She specializes in Renaissance English Literature, particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth English drama. Her research focuses on the political economy of the ‘proto-capitalist’ early modern drama and the theater culture. She is also interested in global receptions of Shakespeare including literary history of Shakespeare adaptation in Korea, digital theatre platforms and performances. Recent publications include “‘Dark Deeds Darkly Answered’: The Political Economy of Prodigality in Measure for Measure” (Shakespeare 18.2, 2022), “Popularizing Shakespeare’s History Play in Korea: Reshaping Richard III as a Revenge Tragedy” (The Journal of English Language and Literature 68.1, 2022), “An Existentialist Revision of Shakespeare’s Skepticism in Hamlet, the Walking Man” (Shakespeare Review 60.2, 2024)
Vanessa Lim (Seoul National University)
Vanessa Lim is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Seoul National University. Vanessa’s research on Shakespeare is primarily interested in how the classical and Renaissance theory of rhetoric shapes the dramaturgy and construction of his works, but she is also concurrently developing new interests in adaptation studies. These include Shakespeare in Korea, balletic adaptations of Shakespeare, and representations of Renaissance writers and literature in comics/graphic novels.
Scott Shepherd (Chongshin University)
Scott Shepherd is Assistant Professor of English in the Hokma Liberal Arts Center at Chongshin University, as well as a columnist for the Korea Times. His research interests include early Shakespeare texts, and how directors edit Shakespeare texts for performance; he also studies representations of Koreanness and foreignness in K-Drama. His recent and forthcoming work includes studies of Biblical allusion in Othello, nationalism in a Changgeuk Shakespeare performance, and foreignness in Itaewon Class.