For the World is Broad and Wide

Globalization is not a modern phenomenon, but as old as humanity itself. Encountering other cultures plays a central role here: the way in which individuals and societies react to it not only gives us deep insights into how other cultures are perceived , but also in their own self-image. This dissertation examines exactly these intercultural encounters in a time that is considered to be one of the most influential epochs of globalization in the modern sense: the early modern period in England. Using the example of six selected pieces by William Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Cymbeline and The Tempest), the development of the representation of these encounters is traced in three phases, which are characterized by the orientation of the central crossing of borders (transgression , presence and inversion) is defined. According to the main thesis of the work, this development reflects the socio-cultural discourses at the time the pieces were created, which help to understand how processes of early modern globalization were taken up, updated and rewritten and helped to shape them.