Whose Castle is it Anyway?: Local/Global Negotiations of a Shakespearean Location

Authors

  • Anne Sophie Refskou University of Surrey

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1515/mstap-2017-0009

Keywords:

Hamlet, Elsinore, Kronborg, globalization, nationalism, borders, interculturalism

Abstract

Kronborg Castle in the Danish town of Elsinore is a location strongly associated with Shakespeare thanks to the setting of Hamlet. It is a place where fiction currently eclipses history, at least in the context of a cultural tourist industry where Shakespeare’s name is worth a great deal more than Danish national heritage sites. Indeed, Kronborg is now widely marketed as ‘Hamlet’s Castle’ and the town of Elsinore has acquired the suffix ‘Home of Hamlet’. This article examines the signifiers implied in the naming and renaming of Kronborg as a Shakespearean location, while also looking at its unique international Shakespearean performance tradition, which spans two centuries. It describes how the identity of the castle has been shaped by its Shakespearean connection against the backdrop of changing ideologies in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and poses questions as to how this identity may continue to develop within the current contexts of renewed nationalism in Europe and the world.

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Author Biography

Anne Sophie Refskou, University of Surrey

Anne Sophie Refskou is a lecturer in Theatre and Performance at the Guildford School of Acting, University of Surrey. She completed her doctorate at University of Aarhus, Denmark and specializes in global and intercultural Shakespeare studies. Her research intersects theory and practice and includes perspectives on Shakespearean adaptation and multilingual performance. She is currently developing an interest in cultural diplomacy through Shakespeare inspired by her research for an exhibition of the Shakespearean performance history at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark.

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Published

2017-06-30

How to Cite

Refskou, A. S. (2017). Whose Castle is it Anyway?: Local/Global Negotiations of a Shakespearean Location. Multicultural Shakespeare: Translation, Appropriation and Performance, 15(30), 121–132. https://doi.org/10.1515/mstap-2017-0009

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