Postcolonial Shakespeare - PowerPoint Presentation

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Postcolonial Shakespeare

Györke

Ágnes

gyorke.agnes@arts.unideb.huSlide2

What is postcolonialism?Why do we need to rethink Shakespeare from the perspective of postcolonial studies? A postcolonial reading of OthelloA postcolonial reading of The TempestStructureSlide3

A critical approach that takes ideological, political and economical implications into accountIts main assumption: literary works should not only be judged on the basis of their aesthetic value; their ideological implications should also be taken into account Literature does not simply „reflect” reality, it also produces what we assume to be realThe term „postcolonial”: does not only refer to the period after colonialism, it is also a critical and theoretical framework postcolonial readings of Dante, Shakespeare, etc.  a theoretical approach that challenges the ideology of colonisation and the stereotypes produced by the colonial discoursePostcolonial StudiesSlide4

The idea of cultural superiortiyThe colonised is imagined as an exotic and dangerous „Other”; the European „Self” is seen as culturally superiorThe idea of cultural superiority justified the „civilising mission” (the „Other” as barbarian, uneducated, etc.  the antithesis of the Western „Self” )The Tempest is one of the basic texts of postcolonial studies: Prospero makes the island his own the allegory of colonisationPostcolonial StudiesSlide5

Octave Mannoni: Prospero and Caliban: The Psychology of Colonization. (1950) Key TextsSlide6

Key Texts19521977Slide7

Emily Bartels (1997): postcolonial criticism emphasises the role of European domination and the exploitation to such an extent that we might assume that the very same inequalities existed in Shakespeare’s timeCriticismSlide8

The age of discovery (a period of global exploration between the 15th and the 18th centuries)Colonisation of North America: Jameston, the first English colony, 14 May 1607. William Kelso (archeologist): „Jamestown is where the British Empire began”. The Tempest: 1611. „Postcolonial Shakespeare”Slide9

Othello (1603)Shakespeare Theatre Company’, rendezte Michael Kahn, 2005Setting? Historical background: Ottoman-Venetian war (1570-73)Source: Giraldi Cinthio, Gli Hecatommithi (1565)Richard Knolles, The History of the Turks (published in England in 1603)First performed: King’s Men, 1 November 1604Slide10

CyprusSlide11

1952, dir. Orson Welles (Othello: Orson Welles)1995, dir. Oliver Parker (Othello: Laurence Fishburne)Opening scenesFilm versionsSlide12

OthelloLaurence Fishburne, 1995 Why is he called the Moor of Venice? Is his portrayal stereotypical? What does Brabantio accuse him of in act 1? How does the Duke of Venice relate to him? Is he also prejudiced? Slide13

In what sense is he an outsider in Venice? Do you see him as a selfish, irrational character, or is his rage justified? How is his jealousy portrayed?Do you see him as Iago’s puppet? Can the reader/spectator forgive him the way Desdemona does at the end? OthelloSlide14

DesdemonaIrene Jacob, 1995Does she embody the conventions of the Renaissance? Is she a submissive figure? How does she address her father in act 1, scene 3? How would you describe her relationship with Emilia? Slide15

IagoKenneth Branagh, 1995What motivates him?Why does he hate Othello? How does he manage to achieve his aim? How does he make Othello vulnerable? Is he a stereotypical character? Can you forgive him? A satanic figure;

influenced

Salman

Rushdie’s

The

Satanic

Verses Slide16

The Tempest (1611)John William Waterhouse, Miranda (1875)Set on a nameless islandHistorical context:  draws on travel literature, most notably the accounts of a tempest off the Bermudas that nearly wrecked a fleet of colonial ships sailing from Plymouth to Virginia. Yet the plot is original. Possibly: influenced by Montaigne’s essay „Of the Cannibals” (translated to English in 1603)Slide17

ProsperoChristopher Plummer, 2010 Stratford Shakespeare FestivalEarlier readings: Prospero embodies the ideals of Renaissance humanismPossesses a timeless, eternal truthPostcolonial reading: the allegory of colonisationExercises power over Caliban and ArielSlide18

CalibanStratford Festival, Dion Johnstone „The Other”, the barbarian, vs. the European humanist idealAnimalistic, sexually rapacious (tries to rape Miranda)His name: cannibalYet: the victim of Prospero’s oppressionSlide19

ArielJohn Everett Millais, „Ferdinand Lured by Ariel” 1852Also serves ProsperoLess often analysedThe French writer Aimé Césarie portrays Ariel as a mulatto (A Tempest, 1969; adaptation, relies on the postcolonial perspective)Magic, exoticism often appear as traits of „The Other”Comparative readings: while Caliban rebels Ariel seeks compromise Slide20

Postcolonial readings offer an insight into cultural stereotypes in literary worksThey challenge the opposition between „pure” high literature and ideologically inspired literature They make us reconsider our own position as readers/spectators Conclusion Slide21

Loomba, Ania. Shakespeare, Race, and Colonialism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Loomba, Ania and Martin Orkin. Post-Colonial Shakespeares. London: Routledge, 1998. Roux, Daniel. „Hybridity, Othello and the Postcolonial Critics.” Shakespeare in Southern Africa 21. (2009): 23-29. Skura, Meredith Anne. „Discourse and the Individual: The Case of Colonialism in The Tempest”. Shakespeare Quarterly 40.1 (1989): 42-69. Willis, Deborah. „Shakespeare’s Tempest and the Discourse of Colonialism”. Studies in English Literature 1500-1900. 29.2 (1989): 277-289. Recommended Readings