Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #6: Joseph Carroll Neema interviews the founder of a movement known as ‘Literary Darwinism’, Professor Joseph Carroll. Topics include: the resistance of the academic status quo to evolutionary theory; Matthew Arnold and the value of literary study; poststructualism vs. biologically-informed psychology and anthropology in the mainstream public;  why is the question […]

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #5: John Drakakis Neema is joined by Professor John Drakakis. In this episode: the professionalisation of the discipline and its impact on scholarship; what was ‘new’ about new historicism?; understanding the roots of cultural materialism and its differences from new historicism; differences between left-wing criticism at Sussex and at Cardiff;  influences […]

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #4: Marcus Nordlund Neema interviews Marcus Nordlund, author of Shakespeare and the Nature of Love. Topics include: false dichotomies, straw men and the academic market place; can you talk about Shakespeare’s characters as if they are real people?; the validity of Jacques Lacan’s theories; the importance of developing a ‘biocultural’ view […]

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #3: Hugh Grady This week Neema is joined by Professor Hugh Grady, one of the figures at the forefront of the movement in Shakespeare studies known as ‘presentism’. Topics include: the influence of deconstruction on new historicism and cultural materialism; Stephen Greenblatt’s relationship with Marxist theory; the different receptions of Louis […]

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #2: Brian Boyd Neema interviews Professor Brian Boyd, one of the world’s leading experts on literature and evolution. Topics include: the antifoundationalism of Karl Popper; criticisms of new historicism and cultural materialism; human nature, universals and literature; dominance and counter-dominance, self-interest and altruism; mate choice or romantic love;  why do we […]

Shakespeare and Contemporary Theory #1: Jonathan Dollimore In this first episode, Neema is joined by one of the founders of cultural materialism, Professor Jonathan Dollimore. Topics include: the importance of interdisciplinary study; differences between the French and English versions of Marxism; Karl Marx; Jean-Paul Sartre; George Steiner; Cilla Black, the 1960s and cultural memory; nature […]