Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Textual Analysis
William Shakespeare, King Lear, 1.2.117
This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,when we are sick in fortune,--often the surfeit
of our own behavior,--we make guilty of our
disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as
if we were villains by necessity; fools by
heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,
liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of
planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,
by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion
of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star!
This passage, spoken by Edmund, discusses man's tendency to blame his ill-fortune on fate. Shakespeare communicates this idea by using distant, natural elements like "the sun, the moon, and the stars," things that can only be observed from a distance but never controlled. Phrases like "heavenly compulsion, spherical predominance and planetary influence" also allude to natural elements and the absence of human control as far as disposition and agency is concerned. When I was in India, something that was always interesting to me was how the people I interviewed, when a sensitive subject was brought up, would run their finger across their head and say "tala rata" meaning "it is written." There is a Hindu ideal that says that a man's fate is written on the inside of his forehead where it cannot be seen by that man. It is not seen, but it is there. When they believed something was just out of their control they sometimes would not even say the words but just run their fingers across their forehead. They would do it if they didn't have enough money, if they didn't couldn't send their children to school, if they didn't have food. It was their way of coping with reality and this excerpt by Shakespeare embodies the human tendency to remove the responsibility from ourselves by assuming we never had a choice to begin with. The woman would say "if it is his fate to go to school he will go, if not, he will not go," and they never felt they had a choice in the matter. They often sat on the sidelines of their own lives, afraid to interfere with fate. I can't help but wonder what Shakespeare is trying to do by having these lines spoken by Edmund. If he's trying to voice his opinion through Edmund that's certainly odd because he's an odd character to identify with. I don't believe he's trying to mock what is being said by virtue of who is speaking it but perhaps Shakespeare is saying something about Edmund - something oddly positive - by having him speak these words.
Othello
I am glad I have found this napkin.
This was her first remembrance from the Moor,
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Wooed me to steal it, but she so loves the token—
For he conjured her she should ever keep it—
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll ha’ the work ta’en out,
And give’t Iago. What he will do with it,
Heaven knows, not I.
I nothing, but to please his fantasy. (III.iii.294–303)
The first thing that stuck out to me from this passage was that Emilia referred to her husband as "wayward" and then said "I nothing, but to please his fantasy." This passage shows how unstable Emilia and Iago's relationship truly is, and clearly not one with open communication. All she desires is to please him so rather than asking what he will do with it, she gets Iago the handkerchief to appease him for a day and to stay in good standing with him. In "Omkara" Emilia is portrayed as very desperate and alone. She is trying to be playful with Iago, teasing him with the belt and he, rather than thanking her, is unamused by her flirtatious attempts and gets angry with her. Emilia, because of her husband, seems to have a bitter view of love. In the time that she spends with Desdemona I can't help but feel that her combined bitterness with Othello's hostility lessens Desdemona's innocence, making her seem jaded. This passage was also interesting because of the idea of Indian women being submissive to their husband and carrying out their will whenever asked. There are hundreds of stories about women who enter into arranged marriages and are abused physically and emotionally. Emilia's attitude reflects many of theirs, "I nothing, but to please his fantasy." It makes me wonder if part of the reason this play was popular in India is because of the themes of female subordination and victimization. It is a relate-able play, no doubt, to those in the India audience.
Tweethis Statement
Alright...here's what I posted on my Facebook last week..
Hi friends! Need a little bit of feedback for one of my classes..my super simplified thesis is that Shakespeare's works are best understood by engaging them in intellectual discussion rather than reading them in isolation. Thoughts? If you wanna know a bit more about this whole "bring your school work to facebook thing" click on the link. Thanks :) (I linked to the tweethis post on Shakespeare Unbound)
I was surprised to find that getting responses took some digging. One Facebook friend responding by saying
"I completely agree with your thesis! Shakespeare's works dig below the surface and are hard to understand due to that fact and the difference in the way we speak from then to today. By talking to other people you are able to see different perspective and greater your personal understanding. Intellectual discussion would never be destructive to one's understanding, rather it would heighten it."
This was really encouraging to me, I'll admit, it's nice to be agreed with, to get some feedback from fellow college students. My post on Twitter (due to the fact that I don't regular Twitter) didn't produce anything of substance.
Because I didn't get as many posts as I expected, I reached out to friends via Facebook message and tried to get feedback that way. It was interesting because I felt more invested in what I was doing. Rather than just posting a status I was sending individual messages and asking for feedback. This, I haven't seen the reciprocity of quite yet but a friend told me she was having trouble accessing my facebook, "why can't I click on your name, are you a ghost?" Not sure what's going on with that but as a final ditch effort to get some feedback I took my thesis to fellow English majors outside of our class. We were looking at Pope's "Rape of the Lock," trying to pick apart every detail and each of us trying to understand what Pope was saying. We were engaging in a conversation, each of us bringing our own respective biases to the reading. I realized that we were doing precisely the thing that I'm encouraging in my paper. The girls I discussed with helped me to understand the poem better in the twenty five minutes that we talked than I ever understood in my many readings of the poem, trying to dissect it on my own. The way that intellectual conversation works helps us to not only understand others ideals but to form our own, to formally take what was once a thought and attach it to words. I shared with them my thesis and they too recognized that what we were doing was case in point of the value of discussing literature. I may not have had a ton of feedback on social networks but everyone that did give me feed back was involved in what I was doing and that felt good. It gave me the confidence to keep writing.
Hi friends! Need a little bit of feedback for one of my classes..my super simplified thesis is that Shakespeare's works are best understood by engaging them in intellectual discussion rather than reading them in isolation. Thoughts? If you wanna know a bit more about this whole "bring your school work to facebook thing" click on the link. Thanks :) (I linked to the tweethis post on Shakespeare Unbound)
I was surprised to find that getting responses took some digging. One Facebook friend responding by saying
"I completely agree with your thesis! Shakespeare's works dig below the surface and are hard to understand due to that fact and the difference in the way we speak from then to today. By talking to other people you are able to see different perspective and greater your personal understanding. Intellectual discussion would never be destructive to one's understanding, rather it would heighten it."
This was really encouraging to me, I'll admit, it's nice to be agreed with, to get some feedback from fellow college students. My post on Twitter (due to the fact that I don't regular Twitter) didn't produce anything of substance.
Because I didn't get as many posts as I expected, I reached out to friends via Facebook message and tried to get feedback that way. It was interesting because I felt more invested in what I was doing. Rather than just posting a status I was sending individual messages and asking for feedback. This, I haven't seen the reciprocity of quite yet but a friend told me she was having trouble accessing my facebook, "why can't I click on your name, are you a ghost?" Not sure what's going on with that but as a final ditch effort to get some feedback I took my thesis to fellow English majors outside of our class. We were looking at Pope's "Rape of the Lock," trying to pick apart every detail and each of us trying to understand what Pope was saying. We were engaging in a conversation, each of us bringing our own respective biases to the reading. I realized that we were doing precisely the thing that I'm encouraging in my paper. The girls I discussed with helped me to understand the poem better in the twenty five minutes that we talked than I ever understood in my many readings of the poem, trying to dissect it on my own. The way that intellectual conversation works helps us to not only understand others ideals but to form our own, to formally take what was once a thought and attach it to words. I shared with them my thesis and they too recognized that what we were doing was case in point of the value of discussing literature. I may not have had a ton of feedback on social networks but everyone that did give me feed back was involved in what I was doing and that felt good. It gave me the confidence to keep writing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Rough Draft/Tweethis
The tweethis that I've kind of shot out and am waiting for feedback on is that "Shakespeare is best understood and expanded by engaging and discussing his texts rather than reading in isolation." I'm incorporating ideas about social media and the capacity we have to make Shakespeare global not just in the sense that he is studied globally but in that we can interact globally. Shakespeare has become a common thread between societies and we are not capable of reaching halfway across the world to prove it.
So, without further ado, here's what I have so far. I've got a lot of ideas brewing, but tell me if this general train of thought is making sense. Happy Studying!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pUExWBkxlHgi9ok4tVLQiUTgbjm-Vno5cvwxpaNBxfQ/edit
So, without further ado, here's what I have so far. I've got a lot of ideas brewing, but tell me if this general train of thought is making sense. Happy Studying!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pUExWBkxlHgi9ok4tVLQiUTgbjm-Vno5cvwxpaNBxfQ/edit
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Phase Two Progress Report
1. Performance Analysis see post here
2.Annotated Bibliography here
3.Digital Media and Online Resources....see links here, here, and here
4. Social Proof here and in phase one. I continue to wait for a few more responses but keep reaching out to professors and the authors of articles that interest me.
2.Annotated Bibliography here
3.Digital Media and Online Resources....see links here, here, and here
4. Social Proof here and in phase one. I continue to wait for a few more responses but keep reaching out to professors and the authors of articles that interest me.
Annotated Bibliography
My research at this point has many possible routes. I could look into how Shakespeare is being performed/adapted/translated in India and how the plays that are chosen are reflective of society’s ideals/values. I could look into how reading certain plays through the lens of an alternative society can completely change the way the play was viewed and demonstrate that the Shakespeare is universal but his plays still have prejudiced readings. I could look into how plays with heavily victimized characters are popular in areas that feel they are victimized. I have several possible directions that I could take my research and these sources are what led me to these thoughts. These sources are a part of the preliminary work that has taken place.
Shakespeare, William. Exhibition of Shakespeariana: April 2-May 31, 1916, the New York Public Library. New York: New York Public Library, 1916. Print.
I found this source by browsing the shelves on the fifth floor of the Harold B. Lee Library. I was drawn to it because of the “Shakespeariana” title, knowing that this was the name of a major performing company in India. While the book wasn’t about the performing company I discovered that it could be of use because of how it discussed a list of possible books that Shakespeare may have read to aid him in writing his great works. This is relevant to my research because I am studying the way Shakespeare is studied and I think it is important to acknowledge who/what his predecessors were in order to see what made him the genius he is.
Trettien, Whitney A. "Disciplining Digital Humanities, 2010: Shakespeare's Staging, XMAS, Shakespeare Performance in Asia, Shakespeare Quartos Archive, and BardBox." Shakespeare Quarterly 61.3 (2010): 391-400. Print.
This source discussed some of the methods of digitally archiving Shakespeare. It in particular reviewed one of my sources (before the project was complete) among other useful sources such as Shakespeare Quartos and Bardbox. I was referred to this source by Kaleigh, who searched through our library’s database and utilized its resources to find it. This relates to my topic by nature of being connected to sources involving Shakespeare in India, it pointed me to other useful services as well as reviewed their effectiveness, helping me discern which sources to use.
Trivedi, Poonam, and Ryuta Minami. Re-playing Shakespeare in Asia. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.
This source is a monograph, focusing on how Shakespeare is adapted to Asian cultures. It contains perspectives from different professors and scholars, each explaining how the country/area that they are studying relates to and adapts Shakespeare. I found this source by looking through several Indian professor profiles and seeing their involvement in its making. I found it on amazon but the book ran upwards of 150 dollars so I requested it through the Universities InterLibrary Loan. This relates to my topic because it contains exclusive information about how Shakespeare is performed in India.
Y. Huang, Alexander C. "Global Shakespeares." Global Shakespeares. MIT, 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://globalshakespeares.org/>.
This source has been one of the most useful as it is a database of video and performance archives of Shakespeare worldwide. It is relevant to my project because of the videos and information it offers that encompasses Indian portrayal of Shakespeare. I was referred to this site by its co-creator Alex Huang after a Professor Parks of Stanford referred me to him. He responded to an email with a brief response to my questions about Indian performance and a promise that all my questions could be answered on his website.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Omkara/Performance Analysis
Alright, I watched "Omkara," a few days ago (a Bollywood Adaptation of Othello) and I've been gathering my thoughts on it ever since. Here's a quick rundown of my thoughts on it.
First, I thought it was very well done and it was a really interesting (and very long) movie.
Something you must understand about Bollywood movies is that there actors are heavily type-casted. They play the same sort of roll every time. I'm not an expert on Ajay Devgan (the Indian equivalent of Othello) but I looked at his awards list and there were many "best actor" and "best villain" nominations and a few "best comedian" nominations. Knowing that the movie is obviously not a comedy the "best comedian" suit doesn't fit. Which leads me to believe that he was being cast as a villain. Interesting. Why is Othello, not Iago being cast as the villain? I'm afraid I don't have an answer yet.
Okay, so he's Othello and deemed a villain based off of casting. Then there's Kareena Kapoor who is basically the Princess of Bollywood. She's pretty, she can dance, and she has fair skin. She is the beloved Desdemona...aka Dolly. This also says something about how they perceive Desdemona. Kareena is typically flirtatious and sassy, a stronger character. She's confident, and it shows in her acting. She isn't portrayed as being weak in the movie due to her nature but because of her circumstances. It is her position that disables her from defending herself and getting the story straight, and it doesn't help that she doesn't actually know what's going on.
Okay, now for the technical stuff.
Costuming: I loved the costumes because they were so true to the culture in which the film was presented. They mostly stuck to traditional Indian attire - Sarees, Chudidars, etc. and I loved the belt/handkerchief replacement and how it applied more to Indian culture.
Casting: I talked about this already up above but I felt like Kareena Kapoor was a great choice as the beloved Desdemona because she is so well-liked among film-goers. I'm not sure why Ajay Devgan was caste as Othello because I don't see him as a villain per-say but more as a lost man. I thought he made a great Othello I'm just not sure why his type-cast fit the bill. Saif Ali Khan made a great/creepy Iago. He successfully fooled Othello by being a great friend on one hand and a traitor on the other, he was really believable.
Language: I must admit that reading the subtitles was an interesting experience. The material of Othello was translated into Hindi and I was reading the Hindi translation of its main ideas back to English, which helped me look at what they valued. It took a little bit away from the experience not hearing the Shakespearean language but it functioned to highlight the themes.
First, I thought it was very well done and it was a really interesting (and very long) movie.
Something you must understand about Bollywood movies is that there actors are heavily type-casted. They play the same sort of roll every time. I'm not an expert on Ajay Devgan (the Indian equivalent of Othello) but I looked at his awards list and there were many "best actor" and "best villain" nominations and a few "best comedian" nominations. Knowing that the movie is obviously not a comedy the "best comedian" suit doesn't fit. Which leads me to believe that he was being cast as a villain. Interesting. Why is Othello, not Iago being cast as the villain? I'm afraid I don't have an answer yet.
Okay, so he's Othello and deemed a villain based off of casting. Then there's Kareena Kapoor who is basically the Princess of Bollywood. She's pretty, she can dance, and she has fair skin. She is the beloved Desdemona...aka Dolly. This also says something about how they perceive Desdemona. Kareena is typically flirtatious and sassy, a stronger character. She's confident, and it shows in her acting. She isn't portrayed as being weak in the movie due to her nature but because of her circumstances. It is her position that disables her from defending herself and getting the story straight, and it doesn't help that she doesn't actually know what's going on.
The last scene of the movie ends with Omakra and Dolly both dead. Dolly is swinging on a sort of rocking bed/bench and Omi is dead on the floor. The screen goes dark and cuts to the credits with the sound of the creaking bed in the background.
There were several Indian elements in the movie. The handkerchief was a belt (which in India is a piece of jewelry, my husband and I looked at a gold one and it ran upwards of 10,000 USD ). There were bad omens and arranged marriages. That's how the whole thing started, by Dolly going against her father's arrangement. And there were trains, palaces, and bright sarees. The conflict between Dolly and Omi didn't occur after their marriage but before all the ceremonies took place.
Why Othello? As I watched the movie I felt like without knowing the context it could have been any other Bollywood movie where everybody dies in the end, or there is a great tragedy, or it ends on a rough note and everyone walks away okay. When I was in India I felt they weren't as concerned with the ending as they were with the message. I remember one day going to see a movie with a group of Indians. It was a great movie until it reached the end. The two characters who were in love with each other the whole time (the best friend kind) simply couldn't depart from the ones they were dating in order to have true love. They ended up with the wrong person, but it ended as if that were a decent resolution to a happy ending. What? Me and my American friends hated it. We hated the movie because of the ending. Our Indian friends love it. "Oh it is better that she should be with him, it is more sensible, more reasonable, people would ask questions if the two best friends got married." They were not concerned with the ending, the were pleased that they had been friends and were now married to other people. Because that was sensible. I saw another Bollywood movie where there were two girls and one married the others love, leaving the lonely girl to think her lover was dead (long story) and that was a fine ending. Indians don't need happy endings. The themes of revenge, loyalty, family, and marital happiness contained in Othello are what I believe drew the Indians to the play or the play to them. Everybody is betraying each other right and left and that is normal for them, that is normal for them to see in their media. This just furthered my idea that society studies the Shakespeare that reinforces what they already know, and that no matter the context, we seek to organize great literature into our lives in some satisfactory way.
Okay, now for the technical stuff.
Costuming: I loved the costumes because they were so true to the culture in which the film was presented. They mostly stuck to traditional Indian attire - Sarees, Chudidars, etc. and I loved the belt/handkerchief replacement and how it applied more to Indian culture.
Casting: I talked about this already up above but I felt like Kareena Kapoor was a great choice as the beloved Desdemona because she is so well-liked among film-goers. I'm not sure why Ajay Devgan was caste as Othello because I don't see him as a villain per-say but more as a lost man. I thought he made a great Othello I'm just not sure why his type-cast fit the bill. Saif Ali Khan made a great/creepy Iago. He successfully fooled Othello by being a great friend on one hand and a traitor on the other, he was really believable.
Language: I must admit that reading the subtitles was an interesting experience. The material of Othello was translated into Hindi and I was reading the Hindi translation of its main ideas back to English, which helped me look at what they valued. It took a little bit away from the experience not hearing the Shakespearean language but it functioned to highlight the themes.
Update.
Okay, I know this is late, but it's intentional, (sounds crazy I know). I decided to wait for this post until I had some solid information rather than just run my mouth (or keyboard). Okay so, I did something new...I got a book from Interlibrary Loan. Huzzah! First. If you haven't tried this, do it. They are fairly quick in getting you the book and its just like things would be if you were to get a book from our own library, they handle everything behind the scenes. You just have to pick it up when it's there, return it when it's due, and hand it to the security guards so it doesn't beep on the way out. I know you're dying to know what book is so important that I had to send for it. Well, it's called "Re-Playing Shakespeare in Asia" and it consists of dozens of articles by the scholars that I've been seeking out and contacting. Great right? One of the articles is by Tapati Gupta and discusses Shakespeare in India specifically. She discussed how Romeo and Juliet was put into a Muslim-Hindu perspective. And something I observed was that Merchant of Venice was most popular in India at the peak of Muslim-Hindu conflict. Gupta discussed how King Lear has been adapted to be about a senile Raja who has lost control over his family and has lost the loyalty of his daughters. She discussed a few other plays, that I won't go into detail about now. But it's all been very intriguing.
Also, I talked to a previous Shakespeare professor, not necessarily about my research but about Shakespeare and he said that Desdemona and Cordelia, to him, seem to be the most beloved female characters in Shakespeare. They are strong yet victimized women and people love them. I can't help but wonder if this is at least part of the reason King Lear and Othello are heavily studied in India, because of the feminine reinforcement.
I think, perhaps, what I want to look at is how society adapts Shakespeare to meet their needs and experience. Isn't that why we read? To relate to something? So, here's where I need help. I need input. Do you think this is something worth looking at and why? Is it something I should pursue or do you see other topics in my research that are more worth pursuing? I'm looking forward to hearing your responses.
Also, I had a couple ideas I've come across reinforce this thought that we adapt Shakespeare to meet our needs and to council our separate societies. On this site that one of my contacts created I found a page that contains a list of different countries and how Shakespeare is studied in each one respectively. Possibly one of the most interesting things that I found was about the Arab-World Shakespeare. Read this!
In the century since then, a vast variety of directors and adapters in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and other Arab countries have produced versions of Shakespeare’s plays to speak to their own and audiences and circumstances. Othello has been adapted as a prooftext about Orientalism or a tragedy about gender violence. Hamlet has been played as a Che Guevara in doublet-and-hose, his “To be or not to be” interpreted as a cry for justice in what many theatre-makers see as rotten states and out-of-joint times [see lecture on this]. Julius Caesar, while rarely produced, has recurred frequently in political discussions about despotism and democracy. The Merchant of Venice has not escaped polemical appropriation by various sides of the debate about Zionism’s role in the Middle East. Romeo and Juliet has been staged as a demonstration of the dangers of blood feuds and arranged marriages. Taking a different approach, a 1994 Romeo and Juliet production in East Jerusalem (co-directed by the Israeli Eran Baniel and the Palestinian Fouad Awad) had the Capulets played by Israeli Jewish actors speaking Hebrew and their rivals the Montagues played by Palestinian actors speaking Arabic.
Moving on, in class a while back in our little discussion groups Carlie mentioned that there's an area in Idaho that has taken Romeo and Juliet out of their curriculum because of the high suicide rates.
On the site that I mentioned above I also found something about how poorly Shakespeare was received until the plays being performed were performed like melodramas. "The very first Brazilian Shakespearean performances by João Caetano occurred as early as 1835 and were attempts at a Brazilian performance free from French influence: Hamlet was enacted in the cities of Niterói and Rio de Janeiro, employing a Brazilian translation by Oliveira e Silva which was done from the original English text. The play was not well received by the public; according to João Caetano, this was so because the public was not ready for Shakespeare, being used to melodramas instead. Thus, when five years later, in 1840, João Caetano tried Hamlet one more time, he turned to the French adaptation of Jean-François Ducis which transformed the tragedy into a melodrama."
I just can't help but think that every country, every area wants a Shakespeare to instruct them. They want his plays to give the answers and instructs. If they need governmental help they'll read Julius Caesar. If they're interested in racism they'll read the Merchant of Venice. Gender? Othello. If they're ruled by Kings they'll like Lear and so on. We read the Shakespeare we need. We read the Shakespeare that tells us about our culture. By reading Shakespeare cross-culturally we universalize and stretch the meaning perhaps far beyond what he originally intended but that's what we need. Society needs Shakespeare, so they create him. They give his plays a meaning unique to their ideals, and then learn from the play they've marked as important literature.
Also, I talked to a previous Shakespeare professor, not necessarily about my research but about Shakespeare and he said that Desdemona and Cordelia, to him, seem to be the most beloved female characters in Shakespeare. They are strong yet victimized women and people love them. I can't help but wonder if this is at least part of the reason King Lear and Othello are heavily studied in India, because of the feminine reinforcement.
I think, perhaps, what I want to look at is how society adapts Shakespeare to meet their needs and experience. Isn't that why we read? To relate to something? So, here's where I need help. I need input. Do you think this is something worth looking at and why? Is it something I should pursue or do you see other topics in my research that are more worth pursuing? I'm looking forward to hearing your responses.
Also, I had a couple ideas I've come across reinforce this thought that we adapt Shakespeare to meet our needs and to council our separate societies. On this site that one of my contacts created I found a page that contains a list of different countries and how Shakespeare is studied in each one respectively. Possibly one of the most interesting things that I found was about the Arab-World Shakespeare. Read this!
In the century since then, a vast variety of directors and adapters in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and other Arab countries have produced versions of Shakespeare’s plays to speak to their own and audiences and circumstances. Othello has been adapted as a prooftext about Orientalism or a tragedy about gender violence. Hamlet has been played as a Che Guevara in doublet-and-hose, his “To be or not to be” interpreted as a cry for justice in what many theatre-makers see as rotten states and out-of-joint times [see lecture on this]. Julius Caesar, while rarely produced, has recurred frequently in political discussions about despotism and democracy. The Merchant of Venice has not escaped polemical appropriation by various sides of the debate about Zionism’s role in the Middle East. Romeo and Juliet has been staged as a demonstration of the dangers of blood feuds and arranged marriages. Taking a different approach, a 1994 Romeo and Juliet production in East Jerusalem (co-directed by the Israeli Eran Baniel and the Palestinian Fouad Awad) had the Capulets played by Israeli Jewish actors speaking Hebrew and their rivals the Montagues played by Palestinian actors speaking Arabic.
Moving on, in class a while back in our little discussion groups Carlie mentioned that there's an area in Idaho that has taken Romeo and Juliet out of their curriculum because of the high suicide rates.
On the site that I mentioned above I also found something about how poorly Shakespeare was received until the plays being performed were performed like melodramas. "The very first Brazilian Shakespearean performances by João Caetano occurred as early as 1835 and were attempts at a Brazilian performance free from French influence: Hamlet was enacted in the cities of Niterói and Rio de Janeiro, employing a Brazilian translation by Oliveira e Silva which was done from the original English text. The play was not well received by the public; according to João Caetano, this was so because the public was not ready for Shakespeare, being used to melodramas instead. Thus, when five years later, in 1840, João Caetano tried Hamlet one more time, he turned to the French adaptation of Jean-François Ducis which transformed the tragedy into a melodrama."
I just can't help but think that every country, every area wants a Shakespeare to instruct them. They want his plays to give the answers and instructs. If they need governmental help they'll read Julius Caesar. If they're interested in racism they'll read the Merchant of Venice. Gender? Othello. If they're ruled by Kings they'll like Lear and so on. We read the Shakespeare we need. We read the Shakespeare that tells us about our culture. By reading Shakespeare cross-culturally we universalize and stretch the meaning perhaps far beyond what he originally intended but that's what we need. Society needs Shakespeare, so they create him. They give his plays a meaning unique to their ideals, and then learn from the play they've marked as important literature.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Phase One
Progress Report
Exploration: Originally, the plan was to study parallels between Shakespeare and Beowulf but the idea just didn't stick, I thought about looking more into the Shakespeare Apocrypha I found on the World Shakespeare Bibliography. And eventually decided to research more about Shakespeare in India
Textual Analysis: The above link has some textual analysis I did for the Beowulf idea. And this link has some as well.
Social Proof (finding): I've probably worked the most on this element because it is what's most out of my comfort zone. I went to the list of India's top 50 Universities and for the top five schools researched their English/Literature Department staff and found which Professors focus on Shakespeare and contacted them to ask how they do it. I emailed Professors from Stanford about a Shakespeare in Asia convention they had held. I also emailed a good friend of mine who is a retired professor in India.
Exploration: Originally, the plan was to study parallels between Shakespeare and Beowulf but the idea just didn't stick, I thought about looking more into the Shakespeare Apocrypha I found on the World Shakespeare Bibliography. And eventually decided to research more about Shakespeare in India
Textual Analysis: The above link has some textual analysis I did for the Beowulf idea. And this link has some as well.
Social Proof (finding): I've probably worked the most on this element because it is what's most out of my comfort zone. I went to the list of India's top 50 Universities and for the top five schools researched their English/Literature Department staff and found which Professors focus on Shakespeare and contacted them to ask how they do it. I emailed Professors from Stanford about a Shakespeare in Asia convention they had held. I also emailed a good friend of mine who is a retired professor in India.
Othello
Alright, for those who read my last post, you'll understand my interest in Othello...for those of you who haven't, read it, and you'll understand. So in reading I, of course, had to make some character cards. Once I get home, I'll post pictures. Guys, seriously, if you haven't tried this you've got to. It's the only way I can keep characters straight, before I felt like I hit a wall when the fifth character was introduced "another one?!" but I can handle it now. What am I thinking so far? here's the gist.
Iago: yucky villain, really crummy guy
Desdemona: adventurous, oddly innocent, victim
Othello: falling from grace
Emilia: bitter old hag. I know she's not old enough to call a hag. But still.
Roderigo: go read a book or something
Brief, and perhaps insufficient, but those were my first impressions.
Alright, themes. This is what is really my main interest because I'm thinking it is the themes of the plays that sparks Indian scholars to teach them. Othello discusses loyalty as he is betrayed by his men and friends. Othello falls under the illusion that nobody can be trusted. There is a theme of familial loyalty as Desdemona defies her father to marry Othello...something that reminded me of the women in India who defy arranged marriage. There is this idea of the bleakness of marriage. Tonight I'll be looking at some Indian reproductions of the play and I'll let you know which themes the focus on. Expect more on this tonight or tomorrow.
Iago: yucky villain, really crummy guy
Desdemona: adventurous, oddly innocent, victim
Othello: falling from grace
Emilia: bitter old hag. I know she's not old enough to call a hag. But still.
Roderigo: go read a book or something
Brief, and perhaps insufficient, but those were my first impressions.
Alright, themes. This is what is really my main interest because I'm thinking it is the themes of the plays that sparks Indian scholars to teach them. Othello discusses loyalty as he is betrayed by his men and friends. Othello falls under the illusion that nobody can be trusted. There is a theme of familial loyalty as Desdemona defies her father to marry Othello...something that reminded me of the women in India who defy arranged marriage. There is this idea of the bleakness of marriage. Tonight I'll be looking at some Indian reproductions of the play and I'll let you know which themes the focus on. Expect more on this tonight or tomorrow.
Friday, February 10, 2012
HE emailed ME
Okay, more excitement today ladies and gents. I found this "Shakespeare in Asia" convention that was conducted in 2004 at Stanford, I found the email of the Professor who arranged everything and sent her an email. She emailed me back within an hour, which was super exciting. (Somehow this whole thing being through Stanford makes it so much more legit cause I keep thinking "I bet some kids that go to this school don't even talk to their Professors but I am" why is it so much less intimidating when you don't have an educational connection to them/they're not in control of your grades?) Okay, so anyways she basically said, "let me put you on to the main speaker from our conference, he's the man that made it all happen." So I'm thinking, sweet, she'll give me his email and then I can talk to him. But wait, no email was to be found. What? All I have is a name for this guy? Luckily, with a crazy Asian last name I was able to find him online and get an email (I feel like this paper is making me a stalker) BUT it wasn't necessary HE emailed ME. I guess when she said she'd put me on with someone else she meant she would do the work. So I got an email from him and he wrote it as if I had written him first, already responding to my questions that she must have passed on to him and it was such a legit feeling. Okay, here's the email. It's also giving me some direction on where to go with this whole thing....
Dear Mallory:
Thank you for your email. I am glad you are interested in the website and event we organized at Stanford in 2004. A common thread in the adaptations of Shakespeare in Asia in general and in India particularly is that the tragedies that deal with family ties and questions of loyalty are more frequently performed and hotly debated, such as King Lear and Othello. You will find answers to your questions about how Shakespeare is performed in India on my new website:
Tons of VIDEOS (all free and open to the public): http://globalshakespeares.org/
Introduction to Shakespeare in India:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Essays:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Further readings:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
best wishes,
Alexander Huang
Director, Dean's Scholars in Shakespeare Program
General Editor, The Shakespearean International Yearbook
Co-founder, Global Shakespeares (http://globalshakespeares.
Associate Professor, Department of English
George Washington University
Rome Hall 750
801 22nd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
Email: acyhuang@gwu.edu
http://www.gwu.edu/~acyhuang/
Ps. Check out that credentials list...this guy is legit and he actually cares about what I'm studying, long before I did. Ah!
Dear Mallory:
Thank you for your email. I am glad you are interested in the website and event we organized at Stanford in 2004. A common thread in the adaptations of Shakespeare in Asia in general and in India particularly is that the tragedies that deal with family ties and questions of loyalty are more frequently performed and hotly debated, such as King Lear and Othello. You will find answers to your questions about how Shakespeare is performed in India on my new website:
Tons of VIDEOS (all free and open to the public): http://globalshakespeares.org/
Introduction to Shakespeare in India:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Essays:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Further readings:
http://globalshakespeares.org/
Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
best wishes,
Alexander Huang
Director, Dean's Scholars in Shakespeare Program
General Editor, The Shakespearean International Yearbook
Co-founder, Global Shakespeares (http://globalshakespeares.
Associate Professor, Department of English
George Washington University
Rome Hall 750
801 22nd Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
Email: acyhuang@gwu.edu
http://www.gwu.edu/~acyhuang/
Ps. Check out that credentials list...this guy is legit and he actually cares about what I'm studying, long before I did. Ah!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Woo Hoo!!
Great news ladies and gentlemen! I've heard back from another one of the people I contacted (one person emailed me back but only said they'd get back to me with more information). So, I heard back from a retired Professor of Philosophy in Visakahapatnam, India. I asked him what the school curriculum is like as far as Shakespeare goes and he said that when he was in school they read King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello. He went on to say, "Lady Macbeth always fascinated me , she must have been a great wife to Macbeth though it was a lost cause." He told me that now, Shakespeare is still taught but not as deeply because of the "frenzy for technical pursuits." He thanked me for asking him this question, saying that these works are dear to his heart. It really is a cool feeling to have someone halfway around the world acknowledge what you're doing and want to be a part of it.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Books and Research
This weekend I headed to the Shakespeare-section of the library and picked up a few books.
1. The Ophelia Syndrome (Thomas Plummer)
2. Pericles
3. Othello
4. A random book of Shakespeare explanations/footnotes/definitions etc.
When I finished checking everything out my husband just said, "Oh no." "What?" "You have a bunch of books, this means I'm not going to see you for a while." I'll admit, I'm a book-junkie, and I'd read a hundred books at a time if I could. But that's not the point of this post. I'm trying to work on the Shakespeare breadth requirement. I've never read Othello or Pericles, and I don't know hardly anything about Pericles, so I wanted to get into some new things. I heard about "The Ophelia Syndrome" a while back and I've wanted to read it since. It was written by a BYU professor and he applies the sort of Ophelia Syndrome to university life and says that if we let our professors spoon-feed us information we'll never learn for ourselves or reach individuation. It's pretty cool so far.
Othello serves a double duty, breadth, and help with research. I've been reaching out to several different friends that I have in India, interacting on blogs about India and looking at the journals that are being published from India and I feel like I've kind of hit a research wall because I'm just waiting for responses, and I know they'll come, I've just got to be patient.
ps. this doesn't have anything to do with anything but we got our wedding pictures back (finally) and I'm so stoked. This guy was one of the favorites...
1. The Ophelia Syndrome (Thomas Plummer)
2. Pericles
3. Othello
4. A random book of Shakespeare explanations/footnotes/definitions etc.
When I finished checking everything out my husband just said, "Oh no." "What?" "You have a bunch of books, this means I'm not going to see you for a while." I'll admit, I'm a book-junkie, and I'd read a hundred books at a time if I could. But that's not the point of this post. I'm trying to work on the Shakespeare breadth requirement. I've never read Othello or Pericles, and I don't know hardly anything about Pericles, so I wanted to get into some new things. I heard about "The Ophelia Syndrome" a while back and I've wanted to read it since. It was written by a BYU professor and he applies the sort of Ophelia Syndrome to university life and says that if we let our professors spoon-feed us information we'll never learn for ourselves or reach individuation. It's pretty cool so far.
Othello serves a double duty, breadth, and help with research. I've been reaching out to several different friends that I have in India, interacting on blogs about India and looking at the journals that are being published from India and I feel like I've kind of hit a research wall because I'm just waiting for responses, and I know they'll come, I've just got to be patient.
ps. this doesn't have anything to do with anything but we got our wedding pictures back (finally) and I'm so stoked. This guy was one of the favorites...
Shakespeare: A Graphic Novel
Okay, first, "graphic novel" sounds like something that contains inappropriate content. So, even though it's wrong (Sorry Cortnie) I'm just going to refer to it as a comic book, or just a book, or just a novel, from here on out. My mom called me to let me know that I had a package at there house (I guess I neglected to switch my amazon default address) and asked me what was in it. "Oh it's a book for my Shakespeare class." "What book?" "Well, it's a comic book." "Oh, that's funny." "I'll come pick it up later." And I did. And when I was opening the package I had no idea what to expect.
First thoughts: there are way more words in this than there are in comic books in the movies, what's a graphic novel? Do I have to bring this with me to school? I like how they drew Ophelia.
I thought, as a whole, it was pretty clever, pretty engaging, but I think what I was lacking was some of the sophistication I feel when I'm holding a hard copy of Shakespeare. And I know that's dumb, and prideful and whatnot but there's something about just holding a play by Shakespeare that allows people to judge you, and in a good way; you want people to know what you're reading, and you may even want to talk to them about it. For me, reading Shakespeare online, or in a book that looks more like Spider-man and less like Hamlet is weird, I feel like I'm keeping my Shakespeare fetish a secret. Prideful matters aside, I think graphic novels and comic books are a great way to start engaging a wider group of people in Shakespeare.
First thoughts: there are way more words in this than there are in comic books in the movies, what's a graphic novel? Do I have to bring this with me to school? I like how they drew Ophelia.
I thought, as a whole, it was pretty clever, pretty engaging, but I think what I was lacking was some of the sophistication I feel when I'm holding a hard copy of Shakespeare. And I know that's dumb, and prideful and whatnot but there's something about just holding a play by Shakespeare that allows people to judge you, and in a good way; you want people to know what you're reading, and you may even want to talk to them about it. For me, reading Shakespeare online, or in a book that looks more like Spider-man and less like Hamlet is weird, I feel like I'm keeping my Shakespeare fetish a secret. Prideful matters aside, I think graphic novels and comic books are a great way to start engaging a wider group of people in Shakespeare.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Hamlet on Audible
I started in on Hamlet listening with the commentary rather than without it. Personally, I really liked the commentary. I thought the lady's voice was far from distracting, and I thought the comments were just enough to keep you engaged. The commentary says the things you think you know but could use hearing. I thought it was really interesting how they put a scene with Shakespeare burying his father and speaking to his dead son as an introduction to the play. If I had the time to listen to the play entirely with commentary I think I would do so. As for the actors, I feel that they are rather engaging taking into consideration that all they have to work with is the inflection of their voice. I'm not sure if I prefer listening or reading but listening seems to make a little more sense (especially with the commentary) and seems to be a bit more clear. I like being able to hear anger, stress, and worry in their voices. You can hear in their sheer tone if they detest something, which I thought was very useful.
Now, as for my research...I've been trying to make my topic more social, so I have contacted some friends in India (college graduates or current college students) and am asking them about whether or not Shakespeare is taught in schools. If it is, I want to know what it is they're being taught. I am also going to contact University professors and ex-University professors and ask them about their take on Shakespeare. I know my questions sound vague, but in my experience, when there is any type of language barrier people tend to answer only exactly what you ask them and give nothing more. I found at the end of my research in India that there was very valuable information that my interviewees didn't deem relevant until I asked them about it directly. So, that was that, and I also looked at Twitter and everybody was hyped up about the movie Omkara (an adaptation of Othello) even after the movie has been out for some time. So I'm in the first stages of the social networking, it's very new to me, but I think it will work out well.
Now, as for my research...I've been trying to make my topic more social, so I have contacted some friends in India (college graduates or current college students) and am asking them about whether or not Shakespeare is taught in schools. If it is, I want to know what it is they're being taught. I am also going to contact University professors and ex-University professors and ask them about their take on Shakespeare. I know my questions sound vague, but in my experience, when there is any type of language barrier people tend to answer only exactly what you ask them and give nothing more. I found at the end of my research in India that there was very valuable information that my interviewees didn't deem relevant until I asked them about it directly. So, that was that, and I also looked at Twitter and everybody was hyped up about the movie Omkara (an adaptation of Othello) even after the movie has been out for some time. So I'm in the first stages of the social networking, it's very new to me, but I think it will work out well.
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