Prefaces to Collections of Shakespeare Retellings for Children as Paratext History

Preface is the most popular type of paratext. This article focuses on the content and form of prefaces to retellings of Shakespeare’s plays for children published in the 19th–21st centuries. A set of descriptive, cultural historical, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, and formal methods made it possible to trace the evolution of prefaces to Shakespear retellings for children as a literary tradition. The list of constants included: appeal for teaching children to read, Shakespeare’s place in English and English-speaking culture, reasons for retellings, and adaptation techniques. The modifications of the genre were determined by the profound changes in the European culture in general and in pedagogy in particular. Gradually, the prefaces have acquired a new addressee: while the earliest prefaces addressed the parents, the modern ones appeal to the young readers themselves.

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