Editorial: Derek Jarman and “the Renaissance”

2014 marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Derek Jarman—filmmaker, gardener, painter, poet, queer rights and HIV/AIDS activist, set and costume designer, and writer—who died on 19 February 1994 from complications related to AIDS. This issue of Shakespeare Bulletin brings together some of the foremost critics of Jarman’s interest in this period, along with several newer voices, including those working from different disciplines and fields (for example, film studies, queer studies, life writing, performance studies) in order to offer a series of fresh perspectives on this aspect of Jarman’s oeuvre and also, in the case of my essay, the politics of commemoration, to which this issue contributes. The editorial surveys Jarman’s long-standing fascination with “the Renaissance,” discusses the influence of his work on theatre and filmmakers, and identifies implications and choices relating to period-based terminology. It also introduces essays by Rowland Wymer on Jarman’s creative contribution to Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971), Claire Monk on Jubilee (1978), Jim Ellis on Caravaggio (1986) and Modern Nature (1991), Lee Benjamin Huttner on Edward II (1991), Alexandra Parsons on Queer Edward II (1991), Pascale Aebischer on Jarman’s workbooks for Edward II and related projects “28,” Sod’Em, and “Pansy,” and my essay, which considers the politics of remembering Jarman more broadly. Collectively, the essays stand as a testament to the possibilities that Jarman’s work entails for thinking about the (early modern) past, present, and future, especially (but not exclusively) for queers, and looks forward to continued critical and popular engagement with his work and life.