ABSTRACT
In earlier sections of this book, I looked at a number of modern and postmodern theories of translation and rewriting, beginning with Jean Baudrillard’s suggestion that everything is an image of an image of previous images-all circulating and regenerating upon each other, to the point that the “original” disappears. In this chapter, I discuss the circulation of the story of Hamlet, first in pre-Shakespeare times, then during Shakespeare’s life, and then afterward in China. One could argue that in China, the “original” has all but disappeared: most versions, both written and staged, are not based on Shakespeare’s text, but on abridged and adapted versions and more focused on images than texts.
