Scholarship at the Edge of Doom

Abstract

A World in Crisis S hakespeare says “to the edge of doom” rather than “at the edge of doom” because “doom,” for him and his contemporaries, means first of all the scene of judgment where God will determine the eternal fate of all the living and the dead. Doom for Shakespeare is like a place he and his fellows are going to. That does not signify in the twenty-first century. For us, “doom” is not judgment but rather the fact of annihilation. What can scholars of early modern English literature and culture do to help a world at the edge of annihilation? The West is facing a surge of neo-fascist populism and demagoguery. Fear and hatred of the ethnic, racial, and religious Other has pushed its way back into the traditional heartlands of democracy. And fear and hatred is bigger, stronger, and meaner than ever. Even in what was supposed to be the nicest country in the world, Canada, and especially in what used to be my enlightened province of Québec, the fear of foreign invaders—people not like us—seems to be driving much of the political discourse and legislative action. In Québec, the ruling party has just passed Bill 21, which “bars public servants in positions of authority, judges, police officers, government lawyers and public elementary and high school teachers, from wearing religious