Shakespeare's Ghost Writers Explained

Shakespeare's Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality is a nonfiction book written by Marjorie Garber and was originally published by Methuen Publishing in 1987.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Synopsis

This book decentralizes Shakespeare from his normally central position in the literary tradition. Instead the book traces the ubiquity and influence of Shakespeare's text on our culture in post-modern England and America, as well as Shakespeare's textual effect on some influential minds of the twentieth century. In this way, it says, Shakespeare or Shakespeare's ghost metaphorically haunts us.^{[1] [2]}

Reception

This book has received positive reviews.

Margreta de Grazia writing for the Shakespeare Quarterly says: "Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers" is a brave new book, for in justifying another new book about Shakespeare, it has attempted nothing less than to make literature newly consequential."^[1]

Jonathan Gil Harris, who wrote the book entitled Shakespeare and Literary Theory says: "[Garber's] book 'Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers'...remains the most thoughtful and thought-provoking account of Shakespeare’s ‘uncanny causality’ and the ways in which theorists, even when they criticize canonical authority, repeatedly turn to Shakespeare to lend authority to their critique. Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers was the first sustained study of ‘Shakespearean theory’; it remains the best."^[6]

Further reading

• 'Shakespeare and Modern Culture.' By Marjorie Garber. (December 10, 2008). New York Times.
• 40755287 . Modernist Hauntology: James Joyce, Hester Dowden, and Shakespeare's Ghost . Sword . Helen . Texas Studies in Literature and Language . 1999 . 41 . 2 . 180–201.
• News: Cameron. David. After 400 years, Bard remains a modern voice. Miami Herald. January 4, 2016. July 4, 2022.

Notes and References

1. 2870733 . De Grazia . Margreta . Reviewed work: Shakespeare's Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality., Marjorie Garber . Shakespeare Quarterly . 1989 . 40 . 3 . 345–348 . 10.2307/2870733 .
2. 3507558 . Edwards . Philip . Reviewed work: Shakespeare's Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality, Marjorie Garber; Shakespeare and His Social Context: Essays in Osmotic Knowledge and Literary Interpretation, Margaret Loftus Ranald . The Yearbook of English Studies . 1990 . 20 . 253–255 . 10.2307/3507558 .
3. White, R. S. "Shakespeare's Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality." (1990). In S. Wells (Ed.), Shakespeare Survey pp. 170-171 Critical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521380340.014. PDF download available.
4. 10.1093/nq/36-2-235 . Reviews . 1989 . Marsh . Derick R. C. . Notes and Queries . 36 . 2 . 235–236 .
5. Rodríguez Sutil, C. (2013). Reseña de la obra de Marjorie Garber: "Shakespeare’s Ghost Writers: Literature as Uncanny Causality." Clínica e Investigación Relacional (translation: Clinical and Relational Research https://www.psicoterapiarelacional.es/ceirrevista-on-line/ceir-portada), 7 (3): 626‐630. Free PDF download.
6. Book: Harris , Johnathan Gil . Shakespeare and Literary Theory. Oxford University Press. October 10, 2010. 211. 9780199573387.