ABSTRACT
The world William Shakespeare found himself in was one in which Western Europe sought a sea passage to Asia as an alternative to the land route that Venice controlled and from which it benefitted. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book makes an important, valuable and significant contribution to its subject areas, that is, Shakespeare Studies, Renaissance Studies, Drama, English Studies, Comparative Literature and Asian Studies. It engages directly with the relations between Shakespeare and Renaissance culture and Asia in terms of reception, adaptation and reinvention. The book is a collection about Shakespeare and Asia in two senses: the contributors are connected to Asia or work and are discussing key aspects of Shakespeare in Asia or important concerns in Shakespeare and his relation to theatre; Chinese opera; film; comedy; history; ecology; and other writers and artists in England, China, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Pakistan and elsewhere.
