Libels and Theater in Shakespeare's England: Publics, Politics, Performance

FAIN: FT-285634-22

Joseph David Mansky
University of Oklahoma, Norman (Norman, OK 73019-3003)

Research and writing towards a book on the use of libels on the English stage in the 1590s. 

My book project tracks libels through and around the early modern theater. In the 1590s, a series of crises—simmering xenophobia, years of dearth and hunger, surges of religious persecution—sparked an unprecedented explosion of libeling. The same years also saw the first appearances of libels on the London stage. These defamatory, seditious texts are launched into the sky, cast in a window, affixed to a statue, recited in court, read from a pulpit, and seized by informers. I argue that these overlooked representations of libel have much to tell us about England’s nascent public sphere and the place of drama within it. Libels were marked by mobility: they swirled across the early modern media and across class, confessional, and geographical boundaries. From London to Lincolnshire, amateur and professional playmakers alike staged all sorts of seditious scripts. I study the diverse contact zones between libels and plays, tracing the contours of a viral and virulent media ecosystem.

Associated Products

Libels and Theater in Shakespeare's England: Publics, Politics, Performance (Book)
Title: Libels and Theater in Shakespeare's England: Publics, Politics, Performance
Author: Joseph Mansky
Abstract: In the first comprehensive history of libels in Elizabethan England, Joseph Mansky traces the crime across law, literature, and culture, outlining a viral and often virulent media ecosystem. During the 1590s, a series of crises – simmering xenophobia, years of dearth and hunger, surges of religious persecution – sparked an extraordinary explosion of libeling. The same years also saw the first appearances of libels on London stages. Defamatory, seditious texts were launched into the sky, cast in windows, recited in court, read from pulpits, and seized by informers. Avatars of sedition, libels nonetheless empowered ordinary people to pass judgment on the most controversial issues and persons of the day. They were marked by mobility, swirling across the early modern media and across class, confessional, and geographical lines. Ranging from Shakespearean drama to provincial pageantry, this book charts a public sphere poised between debate and defamation, between free speech and fake news.
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009362795
Secondary URL: https://worldcat.org/en/title/1378201701
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781009362764
Copy sent to NEH?: No

The Paradox of Libel: From Shakespeare’s Age to Ours (Blog Post)
Title: The Paradox of Libel: From Shakespeare’s Age to Ours
Author: Joseph Mansky
Abstract: This blog post examines the tension between debate and defamation, free speech and fake news, at the heart of my new book, Libels and Theater in Shakespeare's England: Publics, Politics, Performance.
Date: 10/10/2023
Primary URL: http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2023/10/the-paradox-of-libel-from-shakespeares-age-to-ours/
Website: Fifteen Eighty Four, the blog of Cambridge University Press

---