ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a small contribution to the necessary cartography of Shakespearean raciologies. It explores new terms to discuss the relevant issues of William Shakespeare and cultural difference, starting from the underutilized concept of ethnicity. The chapter focuses on the small intersection of the apparently unrelated phenomena in order to investigate the impact of the cultural politics of Fascism on Shakespeare, particularly on the criticism and performance of his "Italian" plays. It provides a trajectory that analyzes the representation of Shakespeare from the moment in which, six years before the advent of Colloqui con Mussolini, the playwright was seen to embody a set of liberal, universalistic values, to the post-war episode of a distinguished professor who translates The Merchant of Venice as an escapist enterprise. It is interesting to remark that a revaluation of the Renaissance artistic legacy was another milestone of Fascist cultural politics.
