Introduction

Films, songs, novels, comic books, visual art, digital media, and stage performances all appropriate Shakespeare, a move at times understood as defined beside and against adaptation (Sanders), and at other times considered an inevitable part of the adaptive process (Hutcheon). Western culture frequently grapples with the topic of cultural appropriation across domains, such as television, music, fashion, cooking, and beyond. To better conceptualize what cultural appropriation has to offer the field of Shakespeare adaptation and appropriation studies, it is helpful to briefly trace its history. Frequently, however, cultural appropriation is seen as binary as well, a contest between a powerful culture and a less powerful one. The very cultural authority that has made Shakespeare a tool of harm and inequity can make him an equally powerful tool on behalf of the “subaltern” voices Taylor identifies.