Shakespeare and Biography. Katherine Scheil and Graham Holderness. Shakespeare & 8. New York: Berghahn Books, 2020. 142 pp. $150.

Abstract

Shakespeare in ‘Engrish,’” Adele Lee suggests that decolonization of our listening ear is really needed, and actors with Asian accents should not be put in the situation where they oscillate between a desire to perform Shakespeare and stay rooted in their culture. In chapter 9, “Alien Accents: Signifying the Shakespearean Other in Audio Performances,” Douglas M. Lanier contends that attention to accent in audio performance helps open our ears to new possibilities for performative expressivity and Shakespearean meaning, into which directors and scholars have only begun to probe. Carla Della Gatta concludes in the afterword that the collection affords “a comparative look at Shakespeare and accentism” across genres, time periods, languages, vocal methods, and locales, marking the outset of a field of inquiry that provides the stage and the culture with theoretical advancements (204). The connotation of accent includes ethnicity, class, locale, nationality, and generational qualities, and the function of accentism is part of semiotic, linguistic, and power structures within the world of production or play. In the collection, each contributor illustrates their argument with specific examples and has substantially proved the relationship between Shakespeare and accentism. Most significantly, the contributors try to break with traditional criticism through methodological practices and reveal that Received Pronunciation is no longer the standard for Shakespearean performances. Rather, Original Pronunciation is a flourishing phenomenon which offers a variety of voices and sheds new light on the stage and screen.