{"product_id":"9781350581920","title":"Yassified Shakespeare Gender Performance and Critical ShaxDrag","description":"\u003ch1\u003eYassified Shakespeare\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003eGender Performance and Critical ShaxDrag\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eTrevor Boffone | Danielle Rosvally\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiterary Criticism \/ Shakespeare\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis book explores the under-theorized intersections between Shakespeare and drag in contemporary American culture and performances of and around what it terms “ShaxDrag.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From the root word “yass” comes the verb “to yassify”. On social media, to “yassify” something is to “glamify” it - generally by running it through multiple digital filters and making it queerer in the process. Yassification distorts reality, and its satire lies in its self-referential nature: there needs to be an original object for comparison to the yassified version. Enter: William Shakespeare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Harold Perrineau's turn as Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's \u003ci\u003eRomeo + Juliet\u003c\/i\u003e to the “ShakesQueer” episode of RuPaul's Drag Race, Shakespeare's cultural capital is often served hand-in-hand with drag aesthetics to contemporary audiences. Using a range of examples including \u003ci\u003e\u0026amp; Juliet\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRuPaul's Drag Race\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSomething Rotten!\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eFat Ham, \u003c\/i\u003ethis book interrogates the specific role Shakespeare plays in American popular culture for contemporary queer audiences\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003e“ShaxDrag” can be an act of performance layered on top of drag, but additionally this book argues that adopting the persona of Shakespeare in the creative context of playful anachronisms, as in queer-coded iterations on Broadway or at Renaissance fairs, is in itself an act of drag. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShakespeare has long symbolized deep connection to white, eurocentric ideas about high culture, education, language, and taste. In digital spaces, Shakespeare can be fragmented, broken apart, manipulated, and re-arranged. In essence: Shakespeare is an identity that one might don and doff at will. This book argues that ShaxDrag is a means through which marginalized voices can liberate Shakespeare's cultural capital from its colonialist agenda, re-read it via various contemporary filters, and use it to advocate for their own inclusion in greater canons. It uses the concept to mine Shakespearean remixes as a site of queer theory and to reveal how Shakespeare can be a critical site of queer world-making.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrevor Boffone \u003c\/b\u003eis Lecturer in the Women's, Gender \u0026amp; Sexuality Studies Program at the University of Houston, USA. His work using TikTok with his students has been featured on \u003ci\u003eGood Morning America\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eInside Edition\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAccess Hollywood\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eTikTok Broadway: Musical Theatre Fandom in the Digital Age \u003c\/i\u003e(2024), \u003ci\u003eSocial Media in Musical Theatre \u003c\/i\u003e(Methuen Drama, 2023), \u003ci\u003eRenegades: Digital Dance Cultures from Dubsmash to TikTok \u003c\/i\u003e(2021), andeditor of \u003ci\u003eTikTok Cultures in the United States \u003c\/i\u003e(2022).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDanielle Rosvally \u003c\/b\u003eis Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, University at Buffalo, USA. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eTheatres of Value: Buying and Selling Shakespeare in New York's Nineteenth Century \u003c\/i\u003e(2024). She is the co-editor of \u003ci\u003eEarly Modern Liveness: Mediating Presence in Text, Stage, and Screen \u003c\/i\u003e(Arden Shakespeare, 2023), and \u003ci\u003eRevenge is Mad Hard: Fat Ham and the Question of Cultural Reclamation \u003c\/i\u003e(Forthcoming).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e29 October 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eThe Arden Shakespeare\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9781350581920\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePaperback softback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e272\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9.28\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52228245192844,"sku":"9781350581920","price":26.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_31b2d465-75a9-4c13-9901-67fe65e7d230.jpg?v=1786502839","url":"https:\/\/lateknightbooks.com\/products\/9781350581920","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}