This Element examines recent documentaries depicting marginalized youth who are ostensibly redeemed by their encounters with Shakespeare. These films emerge in response to four historical and discursive developments: the rise of reality television and its emphasis on the emotional transformation of the private individual; the concomitant rise of neoliberalism and emotional capitalism, which employ therapeutic discourses to individualize social inequality; the privatization of public education and the rise of so-called "no-excuses" or "new paternalist" charter schools; and the emergence of new modes of address infusing evangelical conversion narratives with a therapeutic self-help ethos.

This Element examines recent documentaries depicting marginalized youth who are ostensibly redeemed by their encounters with Shakespeare.
Reviews
'The book offers fascinating glimpses into the uses and abuses of the arts in a capitalist 'self-help' culture'. Molly Clark, The Times Literary Supplement
'... slim and sharp-edged ... At under 100 pages, its short format is unusual and welcome.' William N. West, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900



Book Information
ISBN 9781108743167
Author Todd Landon Barnes
Format Paperback
Page Count 112
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 120g
Dimensions(mm) 127mm * 180mm * 8mm