“O brave new world”: 셰익스피어의 현대적 수용과 대중문화

Abstract

The unexpected presence of Shakespeare, along with The Beatles, being the two representative icons of British culture in the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games offers us a symbolic importance in regard to so-called Shakespearean evolution up to date. Since the first collection of his plays came out posthumously in the market for commercial reasons in 1623, Shakespeare has continuously flourished as a cultural commodity across the world. As the world grows more and more globalized, the hue of his authentic Englishness gets gradually deprived of its vividness into a being of multinationals. Most tellingly, Shakespeare was revived in success in the 20th century with both the technological development of mass media and political dominance of popular culture. He appears here and there at the diverse scenes of contemporary mass culture beyond the established limit of theatrical stage and performing arts. He is now in a great extension of his terrain of existence, even into a variety of such commercial cultural domains as musical, film, manga comics, graphic novels, TV and radio dramas, and advertising. Although being unnoticed every moment, Shakespeare always exists all around us like ‘specters of Marx’. Such evolution and survival of Shakespearean culture necessarily require its popularity and commerciality to survive, which the author himself struggled to attain during his lifetime. This paper, consequently, explores the contemporary aspects of reception of Shakespeare notably observed in the realms of mass and popular culture.