The Event of Style in Shakespeare's Sonnets

What is it about?

This paper explores the issue of 'style' in selected sonnets by Shakespeare. Applying Derrida’s thinking of the ‘event’ and the ‘signature’, it argues that rather than functioning exclusively as a trace of identification and ownership, the event of style depends on the countersignature of the readers to come in ways which disrupt the teleocratic thinking at the heart of attribution studies in the authorship question.

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Why is it important?

Style is a widely important topic in Shakespearean studies, particularly in the authorship debate. This paper seeks to extend the dialogue between literary theory and Shakespearean studies (pursued by Royle, Garber, WIlson, Fineman, Greenblatt and many others) by focusing on a relatively under-discussed topic: style and its theorisation in the sonnets. It may thus be considered an intervention in the authorship debate and an attempt to continue showing the relevance of theoretical readings of Shakespeare's work, which, so far, have tended to focus on drama rather than the poetry.