“Improper” “Shakespeares” in Japan

Abstract

This paper explores how “improper” Shakespeares appropriate the “flagship commodity” and argue that they challenge us to re-examine the cultural authority of “authentic” Shakespeare in today’s globalized “Bardmart.” In spite of, or all the more because of, their irreverent and frivolous appropriation of Shakespeare, “improper” Shakespeares must, at least, depend upon Shakespeare’s global authority, at the same time as they are intent on showing that Shakespeare’s works themselves are nothing but commodities in entertainment business.