Dennis Kennedy explores the benefits of translating and evolving Shakespeare.
· “The
connections and cultural connotations that derive from playing Shakespeare in
his own tongue are simply not applicable in another country and in another
language” (3). Therefore, each new, worldly Shakespeare parody relies on only
the most basic elements of the original work; these parodies are largely
composed of unique and original material.
· “By drawing
analogies to the apocalyptic nightmares of the European absurdists, [Kott]
deprived Shakespeare of the comfortable status of a tamed classic (9). He
“suggested that evil was an unending, cyclical force” (10).
· Weimann
struggled to balance “the history of a work’s origins in the past and the story
of its effects in the present” (11). His style of play was referred to as
Brechtian, and “unlike the Kottian method, when tended to suggest the
unchanging nature of a cosmos ruled by cruel but invisible forces, Brechtian
productions wished to suggest that human beings could control an thus change
their own fates” (12).
When Laura Bohannon tells the story of Hamlet to a
group of African tribesmen, she realizes how varied certain opinions on the play actually are.
o Her idea: Hamlet’s mother
did wrong in not mourning for two years
VS: “Two
years is too long…Who will hoe your farms for you while you have no husband?”
o
Her idea: Hamlet’s revenge was justified
VS: “If your
father’s brother has killed your father, you must appeal to your father’s age
mates: they may avenge him. No man may use violence against his senior
relatives.”
o
Her idea: Hamlet did wrong by killing
Polonius; Polonius was innocent
VS: “One cannot take vengeance on a madman; Hamlet
killed Polonius in his madness."
