'Gifts of the World'?: Creating and Contextualising the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's International Collection

要成为“国际”，就是要在国家之间，也要在国家之间。这个项目将探索莎士比亚的国际化，将其作为一系列不受地理、文化和时间差异限制的互动，以使某些东西成为真正的“之间”。我认为这个项目是一个机会，可以捕捉和策划莎士比亚的文化和政治货币作为文化艺术品中体现的互动和交流的“中间性”。我的分析将质疑莎士比亚和该项目的(文化)生产之间的交汇点：莎士比亚(总体上，或他的作品)的哪些元素代表或煽动了在该项目生产时呼吁、涉及或提出问题的文化中的“之间”。此外，我将质疑这种互动对莎士比亚产生了什么影响：这种互动产生了哪些新的意义和新鲜的解释，并继续启发和产生更多。因此，“中间”是传播莎士比亚意义和持续国际兴趣的沃土。这项关于莎士比亚中间性和政治/文化通货的学术研究成果将在一个开放访问、博客链接、可搜索的网络程序中呈现在地图上。用户将能够点击查看与每种特定文化互动的完整历史，这些历史将通过日期、国家、游戏、诗歌、人工制品类型以及潜在的社会政治事件进行链接和搜索。这将产生一个全面的数字档案馆，向研究人员、爱好者和公众开放国际藏品。通过界面的创新和全面，出生地将被重新安装为这类研究和文物的自然储存库，展示和扩大其覆盖面，并邀请未来的互动，作为未来收藏战略的一部分。此外，通过鼓励国际撰稿人的贡献，它将朝着将莎士比亚研究从种族中心主义的局限中解放出来迈出有目的的一步。在当今不仅存在文化和宗教冲突，而且文学的重要性也在下降的时代，这个项目强调莎士比亚是一个更好地理解我们作为一个全球社会的媒介--通过颂扬两者之间的关系--可能具有无限的价值。叙事历史主义将使档案馆能够讲述自己的故事，作为通过藏品内部叙事实现秩序的综合方法的一部分，而不是像许多策展和学术实践中的常态那样，从外部对藏品施加秩序。我还会使用我在目前的MRE研究中熟悉的批判性话语分析和数字人文方法/学。我适合担任文化考古学家和策展人，不仅在于我的创造力和资历，还在于我对尚未讲述的故事的好奇心。在好奇心的引导下，而不是期望或议程的引导下，应该“解放”未知的历史和跨文化叙事，并确保收藏品不会被殖民。

To be 'international' is to be among but also between nations. This project will explore the internationalisation of Shakespeare as a series of interactions that are not limited by geographical, cultural, and chronological divides to make something truly 'between'. I see this project as an opportunity to capture and curate the 'betweenness' of Shakespeare's cultural and political currency as interactions and exchanges manifested in cultural artefacts. My analysis will question the meeting point between Shakespeare and the (cultural) production of the item: what elements of Shakespeare (in general, or his work) represents or instigates the 'between' that appeals to, relates to, or raises questions within that culture at the time of the item's production. Furthermore, I will query what impact the interaction has Shakespeare: what new meanings and fresh interpretations spring from the interaction and go on to inspire and engender more again. Thus the 'between' is the fertile ground that propagates both meaning and continued international interest in Shakespeare.The findings of the academic study of the betweenness and political/cultural currency of Shakespeare will be rendered on a map within an open-access, blog-linked, searchable web program. Users will be able to click to see the full history of the interactions with each specific culture, which will be linked and searchable by date, country, play, poem, artefact type, and potentially by socio-political event. This will result in a comprehensive digital archive which will open up the international collection to researchers, enthusiasts and the public. Through the innovation and comprehensiveness of the interface, the Birthplace will be reinstalled as the natural repository for research and artefacts of this type by exposing and expanding its outreach and inviting future interactions as part of a future collecting strategy. Furthermore, in encouraging contributions by international contributors it will make a purposeful step towards freeing Shakespeare studies from the limitations of ethnocentrism. In the present time of not only cultural and religious conflict, but also declining acknowledgment of the importance of literature, this project, in emphasising Shakespeare as a medium for better understanding ourselves as a global community - by celebrating the 'between' - could be infinitely valuable. Narrative historicism will empower the archive to tell its own story as part of a consolidated methodology that implements order through the internal narrative of the collection, as opposed to imposing order upon the collection from the outside, as is the norm in much curatorial as well as scholarly practice. I would also employ critical discourse analysis and digital humanities method/ologies with which I am conversant through my current MRes studies. My suitability for this role as a cultural archaeologist and curator lies not only in my creativity and credentials, but my curiosity about stories that have not yet been told. Being led by curiosity, rather than expectation or agenda, should 'free' unknown historical and cross-cultural narratives, and insure against colonization of the collection.