Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal ‘That’s One of Mine’: Upstart cannibalism in the BBC’s Shakespearean biofiction Dr Ronan Hatfull English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Correspondence:
[email protected] Twitter: @ronanhatfull Peer review: This article has been subject to a Abstract double-blind peer review process In televisual representations of William Shakespeare’s life which blend biographical fact with fictionalised fantasy, contemporary writers often utilise the trope of the playwright colliding with characters and scenes recognisable from plays which he has yet to create and, consequently, Copyright notice: This finding inspiration. Others construct a reciprocal loop of influence, whereby article is issued under the Shakespeare is shown to have written or been informed by works that did terms of the Creative Commons Attribution not exist during his lifetime and which his plays themselves instigated. It License, which permits has become fashionable in the metamodern era to depict these forms of use and redistribution of metaphorical cannibalism in a parodic manner which oscillates between the work provided that the original author and sarcastic rejection of Bardolatry and sincere appreciation for source are credited. Shakespeare’s ‘genius’. Gareth Roberts satirised the notion of You must give Shakespeare’s originality in Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code appropriate credit (2007), through the depiction of the playwright being fed and consuming (author attribution), his own works and specific references. In 2016, the 400th anniversary year provide a link to the license, and indicate if of Shakespeare’s death, a number of commemorative BBC programmes changes were made.