THE GREENBLATT READER Praise for the Greenblatt Reader

THE GREENBLATT READER Praise for The Greenblatt Reader ‘‘As a founder of the New Historicism, Stephen Greenblatt has done more than establish a critical school; he has invented a habit of mind for literary criticism, which is indispensable to the temperament of our times, and crucial to the cultural of the past. This admirable anthology represents the subtle play of pleasure and instruction, embodied in writings that move effortlessly between wonder and wisdom.’’ Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University ‘‘For three decades Stephen Greenblatt has been the most articulate, thoughtful, and daring voice in early modern studies. The breadth of his reading is vast, the connections he makes are unexpected and often revelatory, and his writing is, quite simply, brilliant. Most of all, his willingness to take chances has made him an exciting and uniquely provocative critic. It is wonderful to have these classic essays in a single collection; and especially to have the most ephemeral of the pieces, the exquisite meditations on his visits to China and Laos, easily available. This is a beautifully conceived, indispensable volume.’’ Stephen Orgel, Stanford University THE GREENBLATT READER Stephen Greenblatt Edited by Michael Payne ß 2005 Stephen Greenblatt Editorial material and organization ß 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Stephen Greenblatt to be identified as the Author of this Work, and Michael Payne as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Greenblatt, Stephen, 1943- The Greenblatt reader / Stephen Greenblatt ; edited by Micheal Payne. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-4051-1565-3 (hardback) — ISBN 1-4051-1566-1 (pbk.) 1. Criticism. 2. Historicism. 3. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616—Criticism and interpretation. I. Payne, Michael, 1941– II. Title. PN81.G725 2005 801’.95—dc22 2004055099 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 11/13 pt Bembo by Kolam Information Services Ltd, Pondicherry, India Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid- free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com CONTENTS Acknowledgments vi Introduction: Greenblatt and New Historicism 1 Part I Culture and New Historicism 9 1 Culture 11 2 Towards a Poetics of Culture 18 3 The Touch of the Real 30 Part II Renaissance Studies 51 4 The Wound in the Wall 53 5 Marvelous Possessions 81 Part III Shakespeare Studies 119 6 Invisible Bullets 121 7 The Improvisation of Power 161 8 Shakespeare and the Exorcists 197 9 Martial Law in the Land of Cockaigne 229 Part IV Occasional Pieces 261 10 Prologue to Hamlet in Purgatory 263 11 China: Visiting Rites 269 12 China: Visiting Rites (II) 282 13 Laos is Open 291 14 Story-Telling 303 Stephen Greenblatt: A Bibliography (1965–2003), compiled by Gustavo P. Secchi 307 Index 314 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The editor wishes to thank, yet again, the remarkable editorial staff at Blackwell Publishing in Oxford; especially, on this occasion, Emma Bennett and Helen Gray. Special thanks are also due to Gustavo P. Secchi, Professor Greenblatt’s research assistant at Harvard, for preparing the bibliography of Greenblatt’s many publications through 2003. The bibliography was already in proof before the appearance of Greenblatt’s Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (Norton, 2004), which brilliantly complements and continues much of what appears in Part III of this book. Finally, I wish to express special gratitude to the author of these pieces, both for what he has taught us about Shakespeare and the English Renaissance and for his inspiring example of creative scholarship and professional civility. M. P. The editor and publisher would like to thank the following for permission to use copyright material: ‘Culture’ from Critical Terms for Literary Study, ed. Thomas McLaughlin and Frank Lentricchia (University of Chicago Press, 1990, pp. 225–32). Reprinted by kind permission of The University of Chicago Press. ‘Towards a Poetics of Culture’ from Learning to Curse: Essays in Early Modern Culture by Stephen Greenblatt (Routledge, 1990, pp. 146–60). Copyright ß 1990 by Stephen Greenblatt. Reprinted by permission of Routledge/Taylor & Francis Books, Inc. ‘The Touch of the Real’ from Practicing New Historicism (University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 20–48). Reprinted by kind permission of The University of Chicago Press. ‘The Wound in the Wall’ from Practicing New Historicism (University of Chicago Press, 2000, pp. 75–109). Reprinted by kind permission of The University of Chicago Press. ‘Marvelous Possessions’ excerpt from Marvelous Possessions: The Wonder of the New World (University of Chicago Press, 1991, pp. 52–85). Reprinted by kind permission of The University of Chicago Press. acknowledgments vii ‘Invisible Bullets’, from Shakespearean Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 21–65). Copyright ß 1988 The Regents of the University of Califor- nia. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press and the University of California Press. ‘The Improvisation of Power’, from Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare (University of Chicago Press, 1980, pp. 222–54). Reprinted by kind permission of the University of Chicago Press. ‘Shakespeare and the Exorcists’, from Shakespearean Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 94–128). Copyright ß 1988 The Regents of the University of California. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press and the University of California Press. ‘Martial Law in the Land of Cocaigne’, from Shakespearean Negotiations (Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 129–63). Copyright ß 1988 The Regents of the University of California. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press and the University of California Press. ‘Prologue’ from Hamlet in Purgatory (Princeton University Press, 2001, pp. 3–9). Copyright ß 2001 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press. ‘China: Visiting Rites’, first appeared in Raritan Vol. 2, No. 4, (Spring, 1983): 1–23. Reprinted by permission. ‘China: Visiting Rites II’, first appeared in Raritan Vol. 4, No. 4 (Spring, 1985): 44–56. Reprinted by permission. ‘Laos is Open’, from H. Aram Vesser ed. Confessions of the Critics, Routledge, 1996, pp. 221–34. Copyright ß 1996 from Confessions of the Critics by H. Aram Vesser (ed.). Reprinted by permission of Routledge/Taylor and Francis Books, Inc. ‘Story–Telling’, originally published in The Threepenny Review 11, 1990: 23. Reprinted by permission. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The authors and publishers will gladly receive any information enabling them to rectify any error or omission in subsequent editions. INTRODUCTION: GREENBLATT AND NEW HISTORICISM Stephen Greenblatt is the most influential practitioner of new historicism (or what he sometimes calls cultural poetics). This Reader makes available for the first time in one volume his most important writings on culture, Renaissance studies, and Shakespeare. It also features occasional pieces on subjects as diverse as miracles, traveling in Laos and China, and story-telling, which suggest the range of his intellectual and cultural interests and the versatility of his styles as a writer. Taken together, the texts collected here dispel such misconceptions as that new historicism is antithetical to literary and aesthetic value, that it reduces the historical to the literary or the literary to the historical, that it denies human agency and creativity, that it is somehow out to subvert the politics of cultural and critical theory, or that it is anti-theoretical.1 Such categorical dismissals of new historicism (which is an interdisciplinary and multiplicitous way of knowing) simply do not stand up against a careful reading of these texts. The intended audience for this book includes students of the Renaissance and Shakespeare, those interested primarily in cultural and critical theory, and general readers who have encoun- tered Greenblatt’s journalistic writing and who may want to know more about his work. Admittedlythereisacertainironyhereincollecting,singlingout,andcelebrating Greenblatt’swritinginananthologysuchasthis,becausemuchofhisscholarshiphas been determinedly part of a collective project that has included, for example, the members of the Editorial Board of the journal Representations,2 including Catherine Gallagher, with whom he recently coauthored Practicing New Historicism,3

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