This book examines Shakespearean adaptations through the critical lens of fan studies and asks what it means to be a fan of Shakespeare in the context of contemporary media fandom. Although Shakespeare studies and fan studies have remained largely separate from one another for the past thirty years, this book establishes a sustained dialogue between the two fields. In the process, it reveals and seeks to overcome the problematic assumptions about the history of fan cultures, Shakespeare¿s place in that history, and how fan works are defined. While fandom is normally perceived as a recent phenomenon focused primarily on science fiction and fantasy, this book traces fans¿ practices back to the eighteenth century, particularly David Garrick¿s Shakespeare Jubilee in 1769. Shakespeare¿s Fans connects historical and scholarly debates over who owns Shakespeare and what constitutes an appropriate adaptation of his work to online fan fiction and commercially available fan works.

Johnathan H. Pope is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Memorial University of Newfoundland (Grenfell Campus, Canada). His primary research area is Shakespeare, film, and popular culture, and he maintains an abiding interest in early modern theories of corporeality and the soul.

Introduction: Scholars and Students as Fans.- Chapter 1: Fans of Shakespeare, Fans in Shakespeare.- Chapter 2: Shakespeare, Legitimacy, and the Gift Economy.- Chapter 3: Shakespeare and Fan Fiction.- Chapter 4: Parody and Anti-Fandom: Shakespeare Meets Star Wars (and Other Fan Communities).- Conclusion.