‘#DifferenceMakesUs’: Selling Shakespeare Online (and the Commerce Platform Etsy)

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_1678
dc.title	‘#DifferenceMakesUs’: Selling Shakespeare Online (and the Commerce Platform Etsy)
dc.contributor.author	Anna Blackwell
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/english-literature/2018/1/differencemakesus-selling-shakespeare-online-and-t/
dc.description.abstract	The mission statement of the online creative commerce platform Etsy declares its commitment to “using the power of business to strengthen communities and empower people”. Among the many handmade and vintage items sold on Etsy are 3,811 items quoting Helena’s description of Hermia from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“and though she be but little, she is fierce”). This journal paper will examine the relationship between Shakespeare and the predominantly female crafts people who operate through platforms such as these as well as Shakespeare’s own depiction of female craft and handcrafted items. It seeks to explore the processes at work in Shakespeare-inspired merchandise and the relationship they claim to the play texts they adapt. The paper will continue by situating ‘female’ oriented creative work within the current political climate and exploring both the possibilities and limitations of craft as a vehicle for political resistance.
dc.relation.ispartof	English Literature
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 5 \| December 2018
dc.issued	2018-12-17
dc.dateAccepted	2018-12-15
dc.dateSubmitted	2018-11-24
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2420-823X
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/EL/2420-823X/2018/01/002
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Adaptation
dc.subject	Adaptation
dc.subject	Feminism
dc.subject	Feminism
dc.subject	Handcraft
dc.subject	Handcraft
dc.subject	Neoliberalism
dc.subject	Neoliberalism
dc.subject	Sewing
dc.subject	Sewing
dc.subject	Shakespeare
dc.subject	Shakespeare
dc.subject	Women
dc.subject	Women

Research Article
open access peer reviewed

Blackwell Anna DeMonfort University, UK

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abstract

The mission statement of the online creative commerce platform Etsy declares its commitment to “using the power of business to strengthen communities and empower people”. Among the many handmade and vintage items sold on Etsy are 3,811 items quoting Helena’s description of Hermia from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“and though she be but little, she is fierce”). This journal paper will examine the relationship between Shakespeare and the predominantly female crafts people who operate through platforms such as these as well as Shakespeare’s own depiction of female craft and handcrafted items. It seeks to explore the processes at work in Shakespeare-inspired merchandise and the relationship they claim to the play texts they adapt. The paper will continue by situating ‘female’ oriented creative work within the current political climate and exploring both the possibilities and limitations of craft as a vehicle for political resistance.

Published

Dec. 17, 2018

Accepted

Dec. 15, 2018

Submitted

Nov. 24, 2018

Language

Keywords: Sewing • Handcraft • Feminism • Shakespeare • Women • Adaptation • Neoliberalism

permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/EL/2420-823X/2018/01/002

Copyright: © 2018 Blackwell Anna. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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